The Big Change
by Abigail Sykes
Summary: Joan wants to go out in the field for a mission with Annie to get a teenager that is being held captive in China being forced to give her parents' Intel. What will happen when Joan meets this teenager and how will it change her life, Arthur's life and everybody else'. If you don't like the first chapter, please still continue, it is completely different, just shows a time reference
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! So, this is my first Covert Affairs fanfiction! I hope this turns out as good as I am imagining it in my head. This takes place right after the last episode and then I will probably continue from there regardless of what happens on the actual show, but I don't know yet. So guys, please review and give me any ideas that you have and I will try to incorporate them into this story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything except for the characters that are not on the show.

"Joan!" Arthur yelled upstairs to Joan who was still getting ready. He waited a few seconds and when Joan didn't respond he went up to check on her.

As he walked upstairs, he thought back to the previous day…

Joan had just told Arthur about her relapse and they were talking about it in his office before Annie came in. Joan was so humiliated that Annie saw her cry, that as soon as Annie left, she stormed out of Arthur's office. Arthur ran after her and followed her into her office. As he ran in, he saw her pick up the pill bottle and empty a few into her hand. Arthur ran in and stopped her right before she put them into her mouth.

"Joan, what are you doing?"

"Shut up Arthur, as if you care."

Arthur closed Joan's door and shut all of the blinds, he went over and sat on her desk and stared into her eyes, "Joan, I care about you more than you will ever understand. I love you more than I have ever loved anybody in my whole life. I knew this from the second that I met you."

"Then why did you say that you were going to sleep at a hotel for a few days? You think that this shows that you care about me?" She practically yelled at Arthur, but remained sitting in her chair only inches from him.

"Baby," he said calmly as he stroked her hair, "I thought that it would make you happy. That is all that I want." He quickly changed his attitude from loving husband to 'the one who wears the pants in the family.' "This is not okay. You have to stop taking these pills. I will help you however you need it, but it needs to stop." He said in his stern voice.

This cause Joan to start crying again, but Arthur didn't try to comfort her. He needed her to understand how bad this really was. Inside, they were both scared and disappointed. They were both disappointed in themselves, but Arthur was really disappointed in Joan, more than he has ever been before. She is a strong, beautiful woman who is now starting to show her weaknesses. He wasn't upset that she was weak; he was upset at how she comforted herself. It was dangerous what she was doing and he loved her too much to let her go.

"I-I'm so sorry," Joan said to Arthur through sobs.

"I'm afraid that you are going to have to do better than be sorry. I am going to ground you and I don't know what else we are going to do. I know that I am being tough on you, and your punishment may be a bit juvenile, however what you were doing to your body was a juvenile, stupid thing to do, so you will be treated like a child until you learn how to behave like an adult."

"Okay," Joan said between tears.

"Alright, lets get you home."

_Back to present._

Arthur ran upstairs looking for Joan. Even though they had talked yesterday, he still didn't know if she was going to do something stupid. His heart was racing as he ran into their room. He sighed as she sat on the bed putting on her black stellates.

"Joan!" He said abruptly, startling her.

"What!" She said as a reflex.

"You are on thin ice young lady, come on, we have to leave for work. Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"I'm coming, and no, Arthur, I didn't hear you call for me, do you know why, I was in the bathroom blow-drying my hair. I'm sorry if that is not okay with you."

"Come on now." Arthur said in a very stern, father-like voice as he grabbed Joan's arm firmly and walked her down the stairs.

"Arthur, you are hurting me, stop it."

He stopped and turned, so that they were facing each other, "I explicitly told you yesterday that I am going to treat you like a child because you were acting like a child, and frankly, you still are. I understand that you are not happy about this; do you think that I am? I hate what is going on, but I cannot allow you to do this to yourself, the agency, or me for that matter."

"Okay, but how long are you go on with this little charade? How is it going to affect us at work?"

"Don't worry about work. If you do everything that I say when I say it at home and at work, we won't have a problem."

Joan huffed as she picked up her bag and walked out to the car.

"You're still acting like a child with all that huffing." Arthur walked after her.

She knew better than to sit in the driver's seat, so she went over to the passenger side door. He thought for a moment about making her sit in the back but decided that he was pushing it.

He got in and started the car. They sat silently for a few minutes before Joan broke the silence, "Arthur, I want to apologize for the way I acted, with the pills, yesterday, and today. I know that you are just trying to help me but I don't like this. I don't want to be treated like a child and I think that it is cruel of you to do so. I want your help, but not in this way. So, what can I do to convince you to think of me as your wife, your partner again?" She remained calm throughout her speech but she could feel her eyes burning with tears.

Arthur did not know what to say, so he didn't respond for a few minutes, and stared straight ahead at the road, refusing to look at Joan. By then, she had tears silently streaming down her face. "What is going on, this isn't me," she thought.

They sat silently for another few minutes before Arthur said, "Sweetie, it isn't about time, I don't know how long it will take, you need to prove to me that you are capable of thinking like an adult because what you did wasn't what an adult should think to do. You should have come to me and I am killing myself inside because I should have noticed, but I am also angry that you would do something like that to your body and I know I keep saying this, but you need to learn and I am afraid that you will not stop, or God forbid, do something worse. It isn't that I don't trust you, it's that, and you know that, once you get addicted to something, even with the strongest person, it is hard to stop and it pulls you in and I am afraid of losing you. I know that you don't believe me but I am only doing what I think is best for you, you may not agree, but as your husband, it is my job to protect you."

Joan turned to Arthur and smiled. "I know, and I am going to try to act like an adult but can you please treat me like one?"

"I love you but I still want you to prove to me that you deserve it."

Joan frowned. She was pissed. She went all out, yelling at Arthur in the car. They were almost at Langley, but she wouldn't stop about all of the irresponsible things that he had done and asking if she should start treating him like a child. He just ignored her and kept driving. When they got there, they parked and walked in, Joan was still going off, but in a more hushed tone, so she wouldn't attract any stares.

Arthur walked her to her office and said, "You will remain in this office all day unless you call me and tell me where you are going and I say ok, or if I ask you to come out."

"I can't even go down those steps right there to my employees' desks?"

"No, you are to call them on their desk phone and ask them to come up, I want to know where to find you. And if I find out that you left, you will be in more trouble than you are now. Do you understand me?"

Joan just stood there and didn't respond. She was madder at Arthur than she had ever been.

"I said, do you understand me?" He said louder. She gave him a curt nod and walked to her desk. He walked out giving her that "You better listen" eye.

Joan was at her desk, almost crying, trying to hold back tears. She was thinking, "How could I be so stupid, I am pushing away the only person that I really want in my life, he only wanted to help me and I am being so mean to him." Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, "Come in," she said, wiping her tears away hoping that her face didn't look like she had been crying.

"Hey Joan," Annie said as she walked in, "Wo-whats wrong?" she shut the door and sat down.

"Nothing Annie, what's up?"

"Arthur just called a meeting and asked me to get you,"

"Umm, let me just call him to be sure that he wants me there," Joan said as she picked up the phone.

Annie's confused face made me burst out crying, dropping the phone.

"Joan, w-what's wrong?" Annie said as she ran over to her side.

Annie opened up her arms up and Joan let her embrace her into a hug. Annie had never seen Joan like that.

Finally, Joan said while wiping her eyes, quickly changing back into her 'normal' self, "I better call Arthur and see if he wants me there."

"Okay?" Annie said, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"I will later. But thank you." Joan said as she dialed Arthur's number.

When she confirmed that Arthur really did want her there, Annie and Joan walked into the conference room together.

Arthur said, "Okay, now that Joan and Annie are here, we can get started," as he handed each of them a file.

"Annie will be taking lead on this one because she has already worked on this case." Arthur explained.

Annie looked confused as she read through the file, finally realizing what case this was.

Arthur continued, "This case was supervised by Lena Smith before we realized that she was a double agent. Annie, because you know the most about this case, would you like to explain what it was?"

Annie stood up, "Sure," she said as she went to the front of the room. "Lena had sent me to China to get Intel on a potential leak in the agency. A family, both the husband and wife worked in the CIA, and their daughter suddenly moved to China without giving any notice to us, the daughter's school or anybody else for that matter. We believed that they were selling information to the Chinese government in return for a luxury lifestyle. Long story short, I brought both of them back here who were charged with treason and are still in jail. We could not find the daughter and so we had to come home without her." She motioned to Arthur to signal that she was done.

Arthur stood up and Annie sat back down in her chair. "Thank you Annie. Our mission now, is to find this child and bring her home. Her name is Brooke Langston and she is fourteen."

Annie jumped in, "Obviously it is important to find her, but why is this our concern. I don't mean that in an insensitive kind of way, but…"

"We believe that she is being used by the Chinese government to get Intel from the CIA. She has her parents' computers and passcodes, along with their fake identities and a lot of other important things that we cannot afford to let them get. According to our Intel, she is being forced and is being told that they will kill her if she doesn't comply."

Annie nodded her head.

"Let's get started. Annie, your flight leaves in about five hours, so go home and pack. Everybody else, lets start gathering any useful information and Auggie, can you please get together some 'eyes and ears' that Annie can take with her."

Everybody started to leave the room and Joan went up to Arthur, "Can I please talk to you?" she asks him.

"Yes, come with me to my office."

They both walk in and Joan shuts the door, "I am sorry for the way that I acted this morning and I want to prove to you that I can be an adult, so I want to go with Annie to China."

Arthur just stood there stunned. "Umm, I accept your apology and I want you to prove to me that you can be an adult, but I don't think that going into the field is a good idea."

"Arthur, why? Do you not trust me because I know that you trust Annie and we would be together and- "

"Joan. Do not think that I don't trust you. I trust you more than you will ever know, I just want to keep you safe and the field is really dangerous, especially this mission. We are dodging the whole Chinese Government and I don't want you there in that kind of danger."

Joan smiled and stepped into Arthur's arms. This was the first time in a few days that she was happy with him. She did want to go back into the field; she had been craving it ever since she went in undercover to save Megan. "I know, but you have to trust me and as my husband, you have to know when to let me be an adult. I cannot prove it to you unless you allow me to. And, I will be with Annie, who is amazing at what she does."

"Alright, I guess that is okay." Arthur said as he kissed Joan passionately.

**AN: That was much longer than I thought it would be, I just wanted to get all of the background stuff away. I don't know if all of the stuff about Joan being treated as a child is something that you guys like, but it's the only suitable punishment that I could think of for what she did. The main point of this story is what happens in the field and when she meets Brooke. I hope you guys liked it and please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Thank you to crayolakid0413 and VampireGirl88 for the ideas! I will definitely try to incorporate at least some of them. This will be a multi-chapter story. I do understand that this was OOC for both Joan and Arthur. I just felt that since Joan cried in Arthur's office and we have never seen Joan cry before, that she must be really emotional about the whole thing and I think that Arthur gets that too. That is why I had Joan test her limits, but ultimately follow Arthur's commands because she knows that this is best for her. Anyway, when she goes on the mission, she won't have much contact with Arthur, so I think that the punishment is pretty much over. As always, please review and tell me how I am doing and what you would like to see. Oh, and also, I probably will not be able to update this frequently. I just had time today.

**Disclaimer:** I only own characters that are not on the show

Joan continued to let Arthur hold her. Finally Arthur said, "Let's go grab some lunch and then I'll take you home to pack."

Joan smiled and quietly said okay. Arthur took Joan by the waist and let her towards the door, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

They got into the car and Joan asked what restaurant they were going to. "You'll see," said Arthur giving her a smirk.

Joan looked at her husband, "How lucky am I?" she asked herself.

"You know, you are still not off the hook. We will talk about this whole problem when you get back. For now, lets enjoy ourselves." Arthur said in his strict but loving, fatherly voice.

"Alright Arthur," Joan said as she smiled.

They pulled up to Joan's favorite restaurant, a fancy Italian place that they only came to on special occasions.

Joan unbuckled and turned to Arthur and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. After about a minute, they broke apart as Arthur said, "Let's go in, we don't have much time because you need to catch your flight."

Joan smiled and got out of the car. Arthur got out and walked over to Joan, putting his arm around her waist and walked into the restaurant. They got a table in the back. It was really romantic; the lights were dimmed, there was a white tablecloth, candles and music playing low. They sat at a square table. Arthur sat next to her instead of across and held her hand.

"Please be careful and follow protocol exactly," he said to her quietly so that nobody could hear.

"I will," she said staring into his eyes.

The waiter came over and took their order. As he walked away, Arthur said, "You always order the same thing here." And they both laughed. "I love you Joan."

"I love you too Arthur."

They just sat there for what seemed like a couple of seconds, but it must have been longer because their waiter came over with their food. They ate while laughing and talking. After they were done, Arthur paid the bill and then they left to go home.

As they were driving home, Joan turned to Arthur and said, "thank you."

"Of course Joan, I wanted to spend some time with you because I will not see you for a few days."

"Lunch isn't the only thing that I want to thank you for. You were there for me when I needed to be pulled back into reality. You helped me understand how serious this really is and I thank you. You were right, I didn't like my punishment, but I learned from it. It was a stupid thing to do and I acted like a child, taking the easy way out of my problems. You know what I need, and what helps me and I appreciate all that you have done and are still doing for me. Thank you for letting me go back into the field. I think that it will help me get into a better frame of thought." She paused, unsure of what else to say.

Arthur wasn't sure either at first, he just sat there silently for a minute letting all that she said sink in. He finally started, "All that I ever try to do is help you, take care of you, and protect you. I hate that you put this guard up and won't let me do that most of the time. I love that you have allowed me to do that for the last couple of days and I hope that it stays that way. I feel that you need to be punished sometimes because you don't always know how to deal with things."

Joan knew exactly what he was talking about… her childhood. Her parents didn't physically abuse her or anything, but they weren't there. She never really had anybody in her life that she could trust and she blocked everybody out because everyone that she let in hurt her at some point. That was when she first started abusing pills because she didn't know how else to deal with her depression. She was blowing it with the one person that she knew would never hurt her. She also now knew why he had treated her like a child, because she was never punished as a child, she was never shown how to deal with things and now Arthur was going to be like her paternal figure and teach her how to. It actually made her feel protected, which she had never really felt before. She liked the feeling of opening up, but she never felt comfortable doing it with anybody before.

Arthur continued, "You are not being punished anymore, but please don't bring me to this point again. I still think that you should go talk to a therapist to try to figure out how to prevent this from happening again."

Joan said okay as they pulled up to the house. They both got out of the car and walked into the house. As soon as they got inside, Arthur grabbed Joan's waist, spinning her around as he shoved her body towards his. They stood in their foyer for a few seconds, passionately kissing before she broke apart, "As much as I would love to continue, I have to go pack," she turned around and started walking towards their bedroom swaying her butt, looking over her shoulder seductively.

Arthur laughed and walked in and placed his hands on her butt, as she was looking though her closet. He started kissing her neck as she picked out a tank top and jeans along with a dress and some more "street clothes."

She got the bag out from under her bed and started placing the clothes that she had just gotten out inside. She then walked into the bathroom to gather her toiletries and started placing them into the bag as well.

When she was all packed, her and Arthur got back into the car and drove over to the agency. When she got there, she saw that Annie was back and called her into her office.

"Annie, please come in and shut the door." Annie did as she was told and sat down across from Joan's desk. She was confused as to why there was a suitcase sitting on the floor by the sofa. "I will be coming along on the mission with you. Because Lena was in charge of it the first time, I want to be sure that everything is up to par with protocol and that the mission gets done correctly. Our plane will be at the airport in about forty-five minutes, which means that we should get going."

"Alright, let me grab my bag," Annie said and went back to her desk to get her bag; she walked by Auggie's office to tell him that she was leaving and to say goodbye, then she went back to Joan's office.

Joan had her coat on and her bag in her hand and she said, "Come on Annie, Arthur is going to take us."

They walked to Arthur's office and he was waiting there with his jacket on and his keys in his hand. "Arthur, we are ready."

"Lets get you to the airport, ladies," Arthur said as he took Joan and Annie's bags. He told his secretary that he would be back in a couple of hours and not to call him unless something was urgent.

They got into the car, Arthur in the driver's seat, Joan in the passenger's seat, and Annie in the back seat. They drove almost silently until they got to the airport.

Annie started to get onto the plane after saying thank you to Arthur for driving. Arthur brought Joan into a loving embrace followed hy a passionate kiss. They were still kissing when Annie turned around to say something to Joan, but quickly turned back around when she saw what her boses were doing.

Joan and Arthur finally broke apart and Arthur said, "I love you baby, more than you will ever understand, please be safe."

He gave her a half smile and kissed her head as she responded, "I love you too Arthur," she gave him one last peck on the lips as she got onto the plane.

Arthur blew her one last kiss, and said a silent prayer for her to remain safe when their plane started to race along the runway. He waited until he could not see the plane anymore before he got back into his car and drove back to the agency.

**AN: **Hey guys, I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I hope that you liked Arthur's reasoning for why he treated her like that. I feel like it explains why her personality is the way that it is, almost hidden from everybody with an emotional barrier. This chapter didn't have much in it along the lines of hard core drama or action but I felt like we needed this to see Joan's past and how Arthur and Joan really like to be with each other outside of the office. Again, please review and tell me how I am doing, and what you would like to see in future chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** I am really glad that you guys enjoyed that chapter that I was so excited to do another one do quickly. It definitely will not be updated this quickly all of the time. I just don't have that much homework right now, and I am really excited about writing again because I haven't written for a while. Again, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and please review telling me what you would like to see or just how I'm doing. I love to hear from you all!

**Disclaimer:** Do not own the characters, only what they do, lol

Joan handed Annie a file and sat down across from her. "We need to go over exactly what we are going to do when we get there. Arthur wants us to lay low for a few days and assess the situation before we do anything crucial to the mission however, we need to save that girl as soon as possible. She could already be giving them Intel either voluntarily or the Chinese government could be forcing her to. I set up a meeting with the Chinese ambassador and told him that we are from a private Canadian company and I want to set up a headquarters, here and we want him to be apart of helping our mission.

Annie just nodded her head and then said, "Its up to you Joan." She wanted everything to go smoothly and she knew that if she tried to overpower Joan, that it wouldn't end well.

"Annie, in the field, I want you to listen to me, but not as your boss, as your partner. The whole boss thing, doesn't work in the field, it just complicates things."

Annie nodded, "In that case, I think that you are right, we should go right in there because it is a matter of national security. I do believe that we should try to find the girl outside of the government before we try to sneak in. We should also assess the situation when we have the meeting with the ambassador. Then ,we can go from there." Annie continued and Joan just nodded along, "If we can find the girl outside of the government custody, we should not try to talk to her because the government could be watching. We should follow her and see if she takes us to the people that we really need to see. Also that way, we can tell if she is openly giving information or if she is being forced."

"That all sounds good to me. If we follow the girl and she is being forced, we need to smuggle her out of the country and get to India, where Auggie can arrange for a plane to pick us up. If she is voluntarily giving up the information, it will be a little but more tricky. We have to convince her to come and in the process, we are taking the risk that she will tell the Chinese authorities." Joan sighed, there would be no easy way to do this.

"I have a feeling that she is being forced, I don't think that a teenager in a foreign country would willingly give up information that would hurt her country."

"Okay, well this is our cover for when we have the meeting." Joan handed Annie another file. They spent the rest of the plane ride reading over the files and memorizing their roles.

Finally the plane landed and they went to their hotel. They checked in and they each went to their room. Joan said, "Just put your stuff down and change because we have the meeting in about thirty minutes."

"Okay," Annie said as she used the keycard to open the hotel door.

She walked in and sat her suitcase down on the floor. She opened it up and put on a black pencil skirt and a blouse.

In the other room, Joan put her bag on the floor, and took out her phone to call Arthur. The phone rang a couple of times before she heard her husband's voice of the other line, "Hello."

"Hi baby, its me, I just wanted to let you know that we have landed."

"I'm glad to hear. I love you baby and make sure to call me when you get in the car."

Joan smiled, this was one of their secret code words, it basically meant, "Call me to let me know that you are safe after you are done today."

"Alright baby, I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Joan hung up the phone before putting on a tight, light blue dress with thick straps and her nude colored Louboutins. She met Annie right outside of the room and they walked outside. They got into a cab and they were off. They didn't say much until they got out of the car.

They walked into the building and the secretary said, "你好我怎么帮你？" as she was looking down at her computer.

Joan said, "I'm sorry, I don't know Chinese, do you speak English?"

The secretary quickly looked at her and said, "I'm sorry, hello, how may I help you?"

"We have an appointment with the ambassador."

"What are your names?"

"I am Emily Cravens and this is Sasha Leon," Joan said gesturing Annie.

"Alright, I see your names right here, let me go see if he is ready." The secretary said as she got up.

"Thank you," Joan said.

They were about to end their meeting when a man walked into the room. He said to the ambassador, "他们能说中国话吗？"

Annie obviously understood what he said, but she acted like she had no idea and started talking to Joan about how she felt like this company made a good move to open a headquarters here. The ambassador shook his head and the man continued, "我们有了她的房间12，她会不会给我们任何英特尔，但我知道她会的，如果我们把她够硬，我们将不得不折磨她"

The ambassador just nodded and said, "好吧，我让她等待一小会儿，让她觉得什么，我们会做她的。"

The man nodded and smiled leaving the room.

The ambassador turned to Joan and Annie who were still talking to each other. He said, "Nice to meet you two and I hope that this all works out." He grinned and Annie and Joan walked out.

As soon as they were out of the building, Annie pulled Joan into an alleyway.

"What?" Joan said surprised by Annie's actions.

"They have her."

"What? Is that what they were talking about?" Joan asked in a whisper.

Annie nodded "Tell me everything that they said." Joan said still whispering.

"First the man asked if we spoke Chinese, which the ambassador said no, then the man said that they had 'her' in room 12 and that she wouldn't give them any Intel and that they will have to torture it out of her. Then the ambassador said that they would make her wait awhile to imagine what will happen to her. Joan, you know what this means right, our country is trying to get the Intel; the ambassador will probably sell it to the Prime Minister of China. Joan, this goes way up."

Joan just stood there thinking. "We need to get her out of there," she turned around and started walking back towards the building. Annie followed after her.

When she finally caught up to Joan she said, "What's the plan?"

"We forgot your phone in the room, I'm not sure what after that. We know the room number, so we should just do an old fashion rescue mission."

Annie looked at Joan like she was crazy, "Joan stop, think for a second. We need to think of a strong plan before we just go in there. We are fighting against our country and the Chinese."

"Annie, we cannot stop to think of a plan, they could be torturing information out of her as we speak. We cannot risk her safety or the Intel."

Annie just followed Joan up the stairs back into the building.

They went up to the secretary, "I'm sorry, we just had a meeting here with the ambassador and I forgot my cell phone, can I just run back to the conference room to get it?"

The secretary wasn't really paying attention to them, she was doing so many things at once, answering the phone, trying to listen to them, and file paperwork in a filing cabinet, "Umm- sure."

They were in.

They walked back towards the conference room looking at the room numbers. The conference room was labeled as 6, so they must have been close. They continued to walk down the hallway quickly but not drawing attention to themselves as they found the room. They braced themselves for what would be on the other side of the door as Joan opened it.

**AN: ** I hope that you guys like this chapter. It was mainly about planning and not so much about the action. I feel like the next chapter will be more action filled. Hopefully I get some action-based inspiration from the show that comes on tonight! So excited to see how the show plays out with Joan's addiction. As always, please review and tell me how I'm doing and what you would like to see!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** So I am glad that you guys liked it! I am happy that I have time tonight to write another chapter. I hope that you guys like the emotions mixed with the action in this one, I hope that it comes out with the same passion and interesting mix of the two as I have in my head. As always, please review and tell me how I am doing and what you would like to see.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything, only Brooke and any other characters that are not on the TV show

Joan ran in when she saw Brooke sitting in the chair with a pad of paper and a pen sitting on the table. It was blank.

Brooke started to cry harder when she saw the door swung open.

Joan rushed in and looked at Brooke, "I am here to save you, my partner is outside. We are going to help you."

Brooke was hesitant to get up. She didn't know whether or not to trust them.

"I know that you are scared, and I want to help you. They are going to try to torture the information out of you. I want to take you back to the United States, where you will be safe." Joan tried to explain. Annie was listening in from the hall, where she was keeping a lookout; she had never heard Joan so calm, loving.

"How do I know that you are telling me the truth?" Brooke asked.

Annie came in for the first time and said, "Because I am here."

Brooke flinched, "And you expect me to believe you? You are the reason that we are here in the first place."

"And I came back. I want to help you now, but we have to go because they could be back soon and we need to get out of here."

Brooke finally got up and walked out with Annie in the front and Joan behind.

Brooke was scared and Joan sensed that. Joan had never felt this way before. She just wanted to lean in and smother Brooke with hugs. She wanted to protect her. Joan held out her hand and Brooke took it.

They kept running until they saw the ambassador. He saw them and ordered his men after them.

Joan and Brooke followed Annie into a staircase and they ran down a floor into the parking garage. They ran through, hiding behind cars. The men came in and started shooting at them.

Joan turned to Brooke and Annie, "I am going to distract them. When I do, run and don't turn back. When you get outside, call Auggie and tell him to get an extraction team ready in India. Get her home Annie."

Brooke said, "No, please don't leave me," as she gripped Joan's hand tighter.

Joan kissed Brooke's hand and said, "Sweetie, I am going to be right behind you. I need you to trust Annie."

Joan could tell that the girl felt the same what that she did. She felt pulled towards Brooke in a way that she couldn't describe and she didn't know why.

Annie and Brooke ran to the next car. They ducked under.

Joan was still where they left her. She stood a little bit to see where the men were. She saw that they were close and were walking towards her.

She threw a can that was on the ground and immediately motioned for Annie and Brooke to run as she moved to another car about fifteen feet away.

The men ran towards where the can was thrown as Annie and Brooke ran.

The got to the staircase and started to go up.

Joan was still in the parking garage. She couldn't get to the staircase without being seen. She continued to go slowly through the cars looking for one that was unlocked.

She finally found a car that was unlocked and got in and crouched in the front seat. Joan found a set of keys in the glove compartment, turned it on and zoomed through the garage up to the street.

Annie and Brooke ran through the staircase. They got off on the first floor. Annie turned to Brooke and said, "We are going to walk out like nothing happened. You need to remain calm or else we will get caught."

Brooke nodded as she tried to calm down. They walked down the hallway quickly, but collectedly. They simply just walked straight out the front door.

When they got out, they heard men running. Annie turned around and said to Brooke, "On the count of three, run."

Brooke said, "Okay."

"One, two, three…"

They took off. The men ran after them. They ran up the street, dodging people. They turned up an alleyway and up the fire escape. They ran all of the way up to the roof.

The men followed them. They ran across the roof and Annie said, "Keep your speed, and jump to the next roof."

"What?!" Brooke asked, "I don't know if I can."

Annie said while still running, "I know that you can, you are a strong girl," Annie took her hand, "We will do this together."

Brooke let Annie take her hand and said okay. They got to the next roof and they jumped. They made it across, but so did the men.

Annie didn't let go of Brooke's hand, "Again." Annie said.

They got to the next roof. They jumped, but Brooke jumped a little too soon, so they didn't make it completely across. Brooke hung onto the side of the building with all of her might. Annie, who did make it, reached out to her, grabbing her arm. She pulled her up.

The men were really close now. "We have to get down to the ground," Annie said. They ran across this roof and hid behind the entrance back into the building. The men didn't see them and kept running to the next roof. After a couple of seconds, they ran over to the fire escape and ran all of the way down. As they did, Joan pulled up in the car that she stole and they both hopped in.

"I'm glad that you are both safe." Joan smiled. "Annie, call Auggie, we need to get an extraction plan put in. We need to get out of here."

Annie called Auggie, "Auggie, really? We need this now, they know what Joan and I look like and of course they know what Brooke looks like, we are not safe here."

"Annie, what's going on?" Joan asked.

"Auggie, hold on," Annie said as she took the phone away form her ear, "Auggie said that he cannot get any kind of extraction team in place until tomorrow and that we need to stay in our hotel for tonight and we can go to India tomorrow."

"Let me talk to Auggie," Joan said taking the phone from Annie, "Auggie, we really need that extraction plan today, it isn't safe here for any of us, but we need to get Brooke back safely." Joan listened to what Auggie had to say before she said, "I get that, but…" she paused, "Alright, put Arthur on the phone." Joan started back to the hotel. She turned to Annie, "Here's my keycard," Joan said handing her the key to her room, "I am going to swing by the hotel, please grab my things and your own and come right back out." Annie nodded.

"Joan?" Arthur came on.

"Arthur," Joan exclaimed, "We really need the extraction out of India, we really are not safe here, we are driving in a stolen car, trying to smuggle a wanted child out of the country. They know what all three of us look like and we need to get out today."

"I'll see what I can do, I'll call in a favor to my friend at the Indian embassy."

"Alright Arthur, thank you." Joan said pulling up to the hotel.

"I love you Joan."

"I love you too Arthur." Joan smiled. She missed Arthur and couldn't wait to spend some time with him when they got back.

Joan hung up the phone and turned around. Nobody was following them. She noticed that Brooke was crying.

"Sweetheart, everything is going to be okay." Joan said as she pulled up to the hotel.

She kept looking in the rear-view mirror to be sure that they weren't being tailed.

They never were, so Joan said, "Honey, trust me, I have been doing this for years and I know when everything will be okay and when it won't." Brooke didn't respond, she just looked at Joan. So Joan continued, "Why don't you come up here in the front with me?" Brooke unbuckled and climbed into the front seat and buckled.

"You heard the guy on the phone, they cannot get us out of here until tomorrow and by then we could all be caught or even dead."

Joan turned to her and said, "The second guy that I talked to is the Director of the Clandestine Services in the CIA, and my husband. He will get us out, I promise."

**AN: **I hope that you guys liked this chapter. I think that it had a great mix of the emotional/loving stuff with Brooke and Joan along with some action. I am not sure exactly what I am going to do next chapter, I kind of want Joan, Brooke, and Annie to make it home safely without a lot of complications so that I can focus more on the emotional issues with Joan and Arthur and then the issues with Joan and Brooke once they get back because obviously Joan cannot just take a teenager. So, let me know what you guys want because I will write some complications if you guys really want it, but the only way that I will know is if you review! So, please review and tell me how I am doing and how you want me to address all of the issues in the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I am sorry that it has been a few days since an update. It may be like this or even further apart in the future. As always, please review to let me know how I am doing, and what you would like to see.

**Disclaimer: **I only own the characters that are not actually on the television show

Joan could tell that Brooke was scared. Joan looked in the rear-view mirror one last time before pulling over for a moment.

"I know that you are scared." Joan said staring into her eyes. "But I will not let anything happen to you. Okay?"

Brooke smiled a little, "Okay."

Brooke reminded Joan of herself when she was younger, being all alone, having nobody that she could trust or turn to. When she met Arthur, she knew that he completed her. He was her one constant in her life, the person that would always be there for her. She knew that she needed to be there for Brooke. She needed to protect her. She didn't know why she was feeling this. She didn't want kids, she never has. She wasn't even ever maternal; she just didn't connect with kids.

"Maybe its because I can relate to her," Joan said to herself.

She pulled back onto the road and kept driving, checking her rear view mirrors again.

All of a sudden, her phone rang, it was Annie, Joan answered it, "I'm walking out now."

"I'll be right there."

Joan hung up. She knew that they needed to move fast. Joan pulled up to the hotel and only stopped long enough for Annie to climb in the back with the bags. Joan continued to check the rear-view mirrors as she drove.

Finally Annie said, "So what's the plan? Because I know that they are going to look for us."

"We go to Nepal and check into a hotel for the night. India is too predictable. Tomorrow, Auggie and Arthur will arrange for an extraction team. We should be safe there at least for a night, but we still have to be careful."

"Okay, I'll call Auggie and get an update." Annie said taking out her encrypted cell and dialing a number that she had long ago memorized.

"Hey Auggie." Annie said.

"Walker, I'm glad to hear your voice." She giggled.

Brooke noticed it, but didn't say anything. She smirked.

"What's the update on the extraction team?"

"We are trying to get a plan in place now. Special ops will be getting you via helicopter on the top of the embassy in Nepal. There is a helicopter port up there. We are unsure about the time."

"Alright Auggie, let me put you on speaker so that you can talk to Joan."

"Hello Auggie." Joan said.

"Hey Joan, we are putting an extraction team together with special ops. We are planning on getting you guys from Nepal because India is too predictable." Joan smirked. "I can hear your smirk through the phone, I assume that you already thought of that."

"Alright Auggie," Joan said still smirking, "What else."

"We will get you from the helicopter port on top of the American Embassy, I will let you know when, when I know."

"Thank you Auggie." Joan said and Annie hung up.

Brooke said something for the first time in awhile, "Do you promise that nothing bad will happen to us?" clearly talking to Joan.

"Sweetheart, I promise that I am going to do everything that I can to make sure that nothing bad happens to you. I am going to do everything in my power to keep you safe and get you home."

Brooke was quiet again, so Joan reached out her hand and put it on her arm. Brooke looked over and smiled, "I'm a little bit hungry."

"Okay, we can stop at a McDonalds and get you a burger or something, how does that sound?"

"Good," Brooke responded.

They pulled up to a McDonalds and Joan said, "I'm going to run to the bathroom, what do you want to drink?"

"I'll have a Diet Coke please."

"Okay, I will be back in a few minutes."

Annie slipped into the driver's seat and Brooke moved to the back.

"Please don't still be mad at me." Annie said.

"You left me in a foreign country and you knew that they would try to get the information out of me. Why would I be mad?" Brooke said sarcastically.

"I knew that I was going to come back, I just needed to get your parents back home first."

"You only came back because they were trying to get the information out of me, not because you care."

"That is not entirely true."

"Then why did you wait so long to come back?

"It's complicated."

Brooke didn't respond.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before they heard a gunshot.

"GET DOWN NOW BROOKE!" Annie yelled. Brooke lowered her head and buckled up.

Annie pulled out of the spot and slammed on the accelerator trying to get out of there as soon as possible. Annie threw Brooke her cell phone and said, "Call the speed dial number 3. It's for Joan. Tell her to come out now. We have to go."

"J-joan."

"Brooke what's wrong."

"You need to come out now, people are shooting at us."

"I am coming right now. Hold on and do everything that Annie says. You need to trust her, she will keep you safe."

"Okay." Brooke said as she hung up.

Annie made a sharp left and one of the three cars that were following them swerved off of the road into a tree.

The other two cars were still following as Annie said to Brooke, "hold on."

She made another sharp left and swerved right to make a U-Turn. The other two cars crashed into each other. Annie raced back to McDonalds to get Joan. Sure enough she was standing there with a bag of food, holding a tray with two coffees and one soda.

Annie stopped and Joan climbed into the backseat with Brooke. Annie sped off in case they were still being followed. Joan handed Brooke the bag of food and the soda.

"Thank you."

"Oh course Brooke."

Joan then handed Annie the coffee before taking a sip of her own.

They continued to drive for what felt like hours.

"How long is this drive going to take?" Brooke asked Joan.

"About 7 hours sweetheart. You can lay down if you are tired."

Brooke laid down with her head across Joan's lap. Joan smiled down at her before running her hands through Brooke's long, wavy, brown locks. Brooke drifted off to sleep. Joan continued to rub her head as she slept and put her jacket over her arms.

Joan was staring at Brooke and didn't even notice when Annie started to talk to her.

"What?" Joan said finally realizing that Annie was talking.

"Do you have a passport for Brooke? I have yours and mine, but none for her."

"I have one in my bag, Auggie made it right before we left."

"Okay, we should be crossing the boarder in about two hours and the embassy is about three hours into Nepal, so we are looking at around 5 more hours assuming that there is no traffic on the roads or at the boarder."

Joan nodded and looked back down at the sleeping girl. She wanted so badly to just take her home, to her and Arthur's house. She knew though that it was probably not ever going to happen, but she would fight. She would always fight for this girl. She still had not figured out why she was so drawn to this girl, but she just was, and she wasn't going to let her go easily.

She wanted to call Arthur, but she didn't want to wake up Brooke, so she sent him a text on her encrypted cell.

_Hey babe, we are in the car on our way. Did you talk to anybody from Child Services yet about Brooke? _She pressed send. She was really careful about not disclosing where they were headed just in case somebody cracked the encryption.

Arthur wrote back within seconds. _I am so glad that you are okay. I talked to them and they haven't gotten back to me yet. I have no information as of now. The helicopter is there now waiting for you to get there._

_Alright sweetie, I'll see you soon __._

After about another half an hour, Brooke woke up. "Hello there sleepyhead." Joan said to her.

She giggled and said, "How long was I asleep for?"

"Umm," Joan said checking her phone for the time, "about and hour and a half. It is still going to be about another four and a half more hours but the helicopter is already waiting for us, so all we have to do is get on the plane and come home."

Brooke sat up and snuggled up to Joan who put her arm around Brooke.

Brooke laid her head down on Joan's chest. Brooke felt protected in Joan's arms. She never wanted to leave Joan. She felt loved, wanted, and safe with Joan and she didn't want that to change.

They kept driving without any problems to the boarder. They didn't have any problems crossing the boarder and they drove all of the way to the embassy. They walked in and told the secretary that they were here to get onto a helicopter that was taking them to America. The secretary asked for ID. Joan and Annie showed her and the secretary brought them to the port.

They got onto the plane and it took off. When they were all settled, Joan called Arthur. It was a new type of technology that allowed their phones to work only on satellite, not cell towers, so they could get service when they were flying. Joan told Brooke that she would be back in a minute and Joan walked into the other room.

"Hi Arthur."

"Hey baby, are you on the plane?"

"Yes, did you hear from Child Services?"

"I was going to talk to you when you get home. Child Services said that because of what Brooke has been through the past 6 months to a year, it would be best for her to be with somebody that she feels comfortable with and wants to be with. I told them about your relationship with her and they decided that we could be like her foster family and that they would come by to assess us and that if they think that we are good parents, then we can adopt her."

"Arthur, so I can bring her home tonight?"

"Yes sweetie."

Joan smiled from ear to ear. "FaceTime me, so that we can tell her together."

"Alright," Arthur said as he hung up to FaceTime her.

She accepted the FaceTime and went back into the other room.

She sat down next to Brooke and said, "Hey there sweetie, I want to introduce you to somebody." She held up the phone, "This is my husband Arthur and Arthur, this is Brooke."

"It's very nice to meet you Brooke," Arthur said.

"You too." Answered Brooke.

"Arthur, tell her." Joan said.

"How would you like to live with Joan and I for a little while?"

Her eyes widened and she smiled, "I would love to. Can I?"

"Yes, I am going to take you home with me as soon as we get to DC."

"Thank you so much," she said as she hugged Joan. "Thank you too Arthur, so much, you don't even know how much."

They hung up the FaceTime and Joan hugged Brooke, Brooke said, "Arthur said for a little while, does this mean that it isn't going to be permanent?"

"Child Services wants to assess us and make sure that we are good parents before they allow us to adopt you, but I will never stop fighting to be with you." Joan said.

They both smiled. "Okay, I trust you." Brooke said.

**AN: **I hope that you guys like it. THE SEASON FINALE LAST NIGHT! OMG! ANNIE AND AUGGIE! Haha. As always, please review and let me know how I am doing and what you want to see next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Umm, I don't have much to say today. Lol, so as always, please review just even to say that you liked it, etc. And please give me ideas. I love hearing them because I do write for you guys. I want you to read what you want to

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Covert Affairs

They landed in Dc. Annie got of first and then Joan and Brooke followed.

The agency had sent two cars because they were all going home. Joan and Brooke got into Joan's car and Joan drove off.

The car ride was silent until Joan said, "Brooke, are you okay?"

"Uh, yea."

"Care to share what's on your mind?"

"I just haven't been in DC for a long time. It's weird to be back."

Joan smiled and put her hand on Brooke's leg, "I know, but you will be okay. The next few months aren't going to be easy, but we'll get through this together, I promise."

Brooke smiled. After awhile of silence, she said, "Can I see m parents?"

Joan thought for a moment, "We can ask Arthur, I don't know what the answer is." She didn't know how to say the next part, "But they will be in jail for the rest of their lives."

"Good," Brooke said. Joan looked at her in surprise. Brooke clarified, "They took me to a dangerous place to sell information to another government. They knew what danger that they were putting me in and they clearly didn't care. I want find out why and tell them that I don't love them anymore and that they can rot in hell." She started to cry. Joan could relate. This is the exact same anger that she had towards her own parents. They though, didn't sell information to another government putting her in danger. Joan felt so bad for this poor little girl who did absolutely nothing wrong. She was determined to be her mother and actually be a good mother. She wanted Brooke to have the opposite of what she had, what they both had. This was going to be a new beginning for both of them.

Joan pulled up to the house and got out. She ran around to Brooke's side and opened the door. Brooke got out of the car and was greeted by Joan's open arms. She walked into them and put her head down on Joan's shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Joan's neck and Joan hugged her for a few minutes, saying, "It's okay, you are safe with me. I will never let anything happen to you."

Arthur had heard her car pullup and went to the window. He saw somebody who looked like his wife, but wasn't acting like her. Joan was hugging a girl that they were keeping at their house. He know what Joan was different around this girl, loved her in a way, but he didn't know that it was this strong. He went to the front door and walked outside.

"Hello girls." He said as he walked closer.

"Hello Arthur." Joan said.

Arthur kissed the top of Joan's head. Brooke was still laying on Joan's shoulder crying a little bit.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked Brooke.

"Why don't we go inside?" Joan suggested.

"Okay," Arthur said, while getting Joan's bag out of the backseat.

"I'm sorry. I was so rude outside. Hello Mr. Campbell. Thank you so much for letting me stay in your lovely home."

Arthur smiled, "Call me Arthur. And don't be sorry. I know that you have gone through a hell of a time-"

"Arthur, language. She is only 14." Joan snapped.

"Oh, sorry. What I meant was, that I know that it was really difficult in China and you are emotional. I want you to know that I am here for you if you need anything."

"Thank you." Brooke said smiling.

"Now do I get one of those hugs you gave Joan?" Arthur said jokingly.

"Oh course." Brooke said, stepping into Arthur's arms.

"So, I am not an interior decorator or anything, but I tried." Arthur said walking upstairs. "Come on, I'll show you your room."

They walked into a massive size room with white walls and white carpet. Against the far wall, on a step up podium, was a white king size bed with a chic black and white comforter laid across the top. There was matching pillows on the top. To the left, there was a walk-in closet and the door to the bathroom. Beyond that, there were two beanbag chairs, one pink and one light green, and a side table. To the right, there was a desk with a rolling chair. On the floor in the middle, there was a bright pink fuzzy rug, which matched the beanbag chair. There were two huge vanity style dressers that had mirrors on the front on either side of a huge flat screen TV that was mounted onto the wall. Against the foot of the bed was a light green ottoman that ran the complete width of the bed that matched the other beanbag chair. On the wall behind the bed, there was a light mounted with a switch to the left of the headboard. On one of the walls, there were some shelves that were in a staircase pattern, and on the other side of the room, there were two bookshelves. There were a few gorgeous huge pictures hanging. On the ceiling, there was a beautiful crystal chandelier. The room was absolutely stunning.

Brooke and Joan just stared at the room in awe.

Joan finally said, "Arthur…" she paused still in amazement. He held her by the waist. "You should have been in the decorating industry."

"Well, I has a little help," he paused, "Actually, I had a lot of help. All that I did was pick out the TV."

Joan and Brooke laughed. "I love it! Thank you so much!" Brooke ran up to Arthur and hugged him. Joan smiled and pulled them both into her embrace. They just stood there for a moment in a group hug and Joan thought, "This is the way her life should be. She should be enjoying being a teenager and not having to worry about a government torturing US Intel out of her. I want us to be a family and I will never stop fighting until that happens." Joan promised herself.

They broke apart and all walked inside of the room. Brooke ran over to the bed and walked up the two steps onto the platform. It was a big round platform with plush black carpet. The contrast between the dark carpet on the platform and the light bed, walls, and other carpet was a nice touch. On either side of the bed, there was a white night table with a glass piece over the top.

Brooke continued to walk around and look at her new room.

"Did you buy her any clothes?" Joan asked Arthur.

"I wasn't sure what size, what she liked, or even what she needed, so I asked Midge to get her some."

"Okay," Joan said as she looked at the clock. 6:30 pm. "I'll take her tomorrow to get some clothes at the mall." She looked at Brooke who was still walking around her room excitedly.

Joan walked into Brooke's room and said to her, "Through there is the bathroom." She pointed to the door. "I'll get you some towels, shampoo, conditioner, a hair brush, and some soap. Why don't you take a shower and get into some comfy pajamas. I'm going to make some dinner. Are you allergic to anything?"

"Sounds good, and I'm not allergic to anything." Brooke said.

Joan nodded and said, "I'll be right back."

Brooke went over the closet to pick out some PJ's. She found a pretty cute pair and took them off of the hangers.

She walked over to the dressers and looked through the drawers. She found a sports bra and a pair of underwear. She put them on her bed next to the PJ's.

Joan walked in with all of the stuff. She sat them in the bathroom, which Brooke had not gone into yet. When Joan came out, she motioned for Brooke to sit in the ottoman. Brooke sat down. Joan looked at the bed. "Those are cute." She said.

Brooke smiled, "I really want to thank you and Arthur for letting me stay here. You really did not need to go through all of this trouble for me, but I do appreciate it."

Joan hugged her. "It was our pleasure. I do want to talk to you."

Brooke nodded, Joan continued, "I am going to be completely honest with you, okay?"

Brooke nodded again, "I never wanted kids." Brooke kept nodding, "Until I met you." Joan continued. Joan started to tear up; this made Brooke start as well. "When I met you, I felt," she paused trying to look for the right word, "different," was all that she could come up with. "I don't know how exactly to say this, but when I met you, I felt connected to you in a way that I have never felt before, like we were meant to meet and you were meant to become a part of my family and my life. Arthur and I have talked and we agreed that we want you to become a part of our family." Joan paused to wipe away one of Brooke's tears, "But only if you want to. It is up to you. I don't know though, what will happen if you don't want to stay-"

Brooke cut her off, "I want to stay. Thank you so much for being there when I needed somebody. I don't even know how to thank you enough."

Joan hugged Brooke for a few minutes before Joan said, "It's getting late, as much as I would love to continue to hug you, I need to go make us some dinner. Will you come down as soon as you are finished?"

"Sure." Brooke responded. Joan walked out and Brooke shut the door. She just stood there for a minute thinking about how lucky she is. She finally snapped out of her little trance and got undressed. She walked into the bathroom. There was a Jacuzzi tub in the corner and a shower in the other corner. The toilet was to the left of the shower and the sink was to the right. The sink had a huge counter on either side along with a huge mirror hanging on the wall. There was a ton of storage space under the counter. She got into the shower and washed and conditioned her thick, dark brown, wavy hair. It wasn't as neat as Joan's, but instead scrunched curls. She brushed out her hair and washed her body and got out of the shower. She wrapped her hair up in a towel and wrapped herself in the bigger, warm, soft one. She walked back into her room and put on the sports bra and underwear and then the PJ's. She walked back into he bathroom and undid the towel on her head, letting her messy curls fall loose. She put in a little bit more conditioner to use as leave-in and walked downstairs.

She found the dining room, even though it took her a minute. She stared at the beautiful table and smiled in amazement. The table was set and had a nice tablecloth down. She continued to smile until Joan and Arthur came in.

"Should I sit anyplace in particular?" Brooke asked.

Arthur said, "sweetheart, why don't you sit here, in between Joan and myself."

Brooke smiled and took the seat that Arthur pointed out.

She continued to smile because she knew that this was now her life and she was excited and happy to have such wonderful people that she would soon be able to call her parents.

**AN: **Hey guys, I hope that you liked it! I am not sure if her room seems a little too over the top, but I just feel like I needed to have something nice for Brooke and I could play it as Arthur felt so bad for her, that he wanted to do something really special for her and he thought that this was good. We have seen the outside of the Campbell household and it seemed to be a pretty big house. I feel like all of the rooms that we have seen in the house, don't really add up to this, so I am going to act as if we didn't see the whole room, like there was more to the room that the cameras didn't show. Oh, and also, if you don't know what I mean by the bed on the podium, here is a pic that I found online House/Master+Bedroom/Bedroom+with+bed+on+podium/

The podium in Brooke's room is bigger though. Other than that, I think that you kind of get the gist of what is going on. As always, please review, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to see.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **Again, I don't really have much to say. I really need some ideas of how to make this story even better. I am not positive if all of this is believable, especially the size and enormity of some of this things that continue even to this chapter, but I have seen the outside of Joan and Arthur's house and it looks like it is huge, so I wrote it as the inside was just like the impression that I had of the outside. Tell me if you disagree. As always, please review to tell me how I'm doing and what you would like to read!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Covert Affairs

They were finished eating and now they were just sitting at the table talking.

Brooke yawned. Arthur said, "You seem tired, come on, let's go upstairs and we can talk some more tomorrow."

Brooke smiled and said, "Okay," as she got up and pushed in her chair. She took her plate and her glass and walked into the kitchen. She started to wash her dishes and put them into the dishwasher.

Arthur came over and said, "You don't have to do the dishes, I will do them later."

Joan smiled. She knew that Arthur really liked Brooke, and she was glad.

"Brooke," Joan started, "If you want to go to sleep, you can, but I was thinking that maybe we could watch a movie downstairs instead."

"That sounds great." Brooke responded.

"We never showed you the lower level, did we?" Arthur asked.

"Nope, but I'll see it now." Brooke responded giggling.

They walked downstairs to see a nice size, open room. There was a television with a sofa in front of it and a loveseat on either side of the sofa. On the opposite side of the room, there was a pool table and a door. On another open wall there were two other doors and one other on another wall.

"Cool." Brooke said as she walked downstairs.

"There's more." Joan said following behind her.

Brooke swung her head around in confusion.

"What's behind those doors?" Brooke asked.

"Well, that one." Arthur said pointing to the door by the pool table, "is a bathroom. That one." Arthur pointed to the one on the other wall, "is an alcohol cellar. That is a closet and the other one is the surprise. Go look."

Brooke opened it up and walked in. When she did, the lights turned on by a motion sensor and Brooke gasped. It was a room that had red walls, and plush cream colored carpet. There were two leather couches in each row and three rows. Each row went up two steps. On the wall that the couches were facing, there was a huge TV and a projector on the top. It was a home movie theater.

"Oh my god!" Brooke gasped. "Really, you guys have a movie theater in your house! This is crazy!"

Joan and Arthur smiled. They both loved that this girl who had been going through so much was now so excited and happy that they were the ones to do it.

"It was already here when we moved in." Arthur said looking for the movies. "Here are the movies that we have. I had Midge, my secretary, go out and get some movies that she thought that you would like." Arthur said, handing Brooke the stack.

Brooke took the movies and flipped through, "How about this one?" she asked holding up _The Devil Wears Prada _with Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep.

"She said that you would probably like this one the best." Arthur said taking the movie from Brooke and put it in the DVD player.

They sat down on the sofa in the front. Brooke sat down and Arthur sat next to her. Joan sat on the other side of Arthur. Arthur put his arm around Joan, Joan's head resting on his shoulder.

The movie started and after about twenty minutes, Arthur put his arm around Brooke. She turned to him and smiled. She snuggled up close to him and laid her head on his chest. He kissed her head and they continued to watch.

About a half an hour later, Brooke laid down in the crest of Arthur's arms. She laid on his chest with her legs on the other side of the couch.

By the end of the movie Brooke was sound asleep, still lying in the same position. Joan smiled at Arthur who was watching Brooke sleep.

Finally, Arthur picked up Brooke, carrying her like a baby up the stairs.

They finally got into her room and walked up the podium. Joan pulled up the covers and Arthur slipped her into bed. Joan pulled the covers back over Brooke. Arthur walked up to her bed and kissed her forehead.

They both walked out turned off the lights. They walked back into their room and got into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, Brooke woke up peacefully. She opened her eyes and looked around. "So, it wasn't all a dream." She said to herself as she smiled.

She got up and went into the closet. It was cold outside because it is December, so she put on a warm turtleneck dress with leggings, brushed her teeth and walked downstairs.

"Brooke?" Joan called when she heard Brooke walk down the stairs.

"Yea." Brooke called back. She walked into the kitchen where Joan was.

"Would you like some breakfast?" Joan asked pointing to the bagels sitting on the counter. "Arthur thought you might have wanted them, so he went this morning to pick them up."

"Thank you. I will have one please."

"What kind? We have plain, everything, blueberry, and chocolate chip."

"I'll have a blueberry one with some cream cheese if you have it."

"Sure. I'll make it for you."

Brooke smiled and sat down on one of the tall stools that were under the counter. The kitchen was gorgeous with a granite countertop that covered the big island in the middle of the kitchen. The island was long and oval and had an extra part of it that extended outward. This had four stools underneath. The stools, actually more of chairs with long legs, that were metal with a beautiful dark grey cushion.

"So, I was thinking." Joan said as she spread the cream cheese on Brooke's bagel. "We could go shopping today."

Brooke smiled, "That's sounds great." Brooke's smile quickly faded. "But, I don't have any money."

Joan laughed and came over with the bagel on a plate. She kissed the top of Brooke's head and sat down on the stool next to her. "You don't need any money." She laughed again, "Arthur and I are going to take care of you. You don't need to worry about anything."

"Thank you, but I really don't deserve all of this."

"Well, you got it anyway." Joan said. They both laughed.

"Finish eating and get ready to go. Okay? I'm going to go get dressed."

"Okay." Brooke said.

Brooke finished eating and got up. She washed her plate and put it in the dishwasher. She went back upstairs and found a cute pair of shoes in the closet. Nothing special, just plain grey Toms.

She walked to Joan's room and knocked on the closed door.

"Come in." Joan answered.

Brooke opened the door and walked in to see Joan wearing some dark jeans and a cute shirt. "Ready to go?" Joan asked.

"Yup."

"Where's Arthur?" Brooke asked as they got into Joan's car.

"He had to go to work. We can't both take off, so we are going to switch off because we both want to be with you before you have to go back to school on Monday."

It was Monday today, so she would start school in one week.

"Okay." Brooke said, her mood dropping.

"It's going to be okay. It isn't going to be easy, but you will be okay. It will all work out, I promise, we will get through all of this as a team, the three of us. But let's have fun today and we can talk about all of this later."

Brooke smiled and nodded.

They chatted as they drove to Tysons Mall. When they got there, they parked in the parking garage and got out of the car. They walked into the mall and Joan asked Brooke, "What stores do you like?"

"Umm, I don't know, Abercrombie and Fitch, uh, Banana Republic, Aeropostale, Hollister, uh, Wet Seal, Sephora, um, Nordstrom. Umm, I don't know what else.

"Okay, Hollister is right there." Joan said pointing to a store, "so let's go there first."

They walk in and Joan says to her, "Today is your day. Do not look at the price tags, we are going to get whatever you want, okay?"

"Thank you." Brooke said softly.

She picked out some tops, and some dresses, and a couple pairs of pants. Then they went to the dressing room to try everything on. Joan stood right outside and waited for Brooke to put the first outfit on to show her. After a couple of minutes, Brooke opened the door and walked out. She was wearing a dress that was formfitting at the top and flowed out at the bottom.

"You look beautiful." Joan said.

"Thank you, I really like this one." She walked over to Joan and whispered into her ear. "I know that you said that the price doesn't matter, but I cannot do that to you. It isn't right."

"Brooke, honey, I promise that it is fine. Arthur and I have never been able to spoil anybody before and we want to do it now. You deserve it, you practically saved our country."

Brooke smiled before saying, "Okay, thank you."

She finished trying on everything and they went to the register.

"I'm going to wait outside." Brooke said because she didn't want to see the total. "But thank you again for everything."

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute."

Joan came out with the bag and Brooke took it from her.

They continued to shop. By lunchtime, Brooke was carrying five bags from different stores, each bag carrying at least eight items. She now had at least twenty shirts, nine pairs of pants and thirteen dresses. They had also gone into a bathing suit store and Brooke got five or six bikinis and two piece bathing suits.

Joan's phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the caller id. It was Arthur. "Hello." She said.

"Hey honey, how are you two doing?"

"Good, we are just out, doing a little bit of shopping."

"Okay, at the mall?"

"Yes Arthur, why?"

"Oh, nothing is wrong." Joan sighed, "I was just thinking that if you were at Tysons, that you could stop in the Apple store. If she is going to school next week, I would like her to have a phone. We mine as well get her an iPhone. She will probably also need a computer for school, so we could get her a MacBook."

Joan smiled. "Good idea. Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"Okay, put her on."

Joan handed the phone to Brooke, "Its Arthur."

Brooke took the iPhone and put it up to her ear, "Hello."

Joan knew that Arthur told her when her face lit up.

"Thank you so much." Brooke said to both Arthur on the phone and Joan.

Brooke hung up the phone and they proceeded to the Apple Store.

They walked in and went to an employee.

"Hello, can I help you with anything today?"

"Yes," Joan said, "We are looking to buy an iPhone for her today and a MacBook."

"Alright, lucky girl." Brooke smiled, "Let's start with the MacBook. What kind were you looking at? The pro or the air?"

"Umm, we really don't know." Joan said, "can you tell us about both of them."

The salesman continued to talk to them about the difference.

When he was done talking, Joan turned to Brooke and said, "I think that you should get the MacBook Pro. It seems sturdier, faster and just better for a teenage girl. What do you think?"

"I agree completely," Brooke said.

"Okay, now onto the iPhone," the salesman said. "Which one. The iPhone 5 is the newest. I wouldn't recommend getting the iPhone 4 because it is so outdated, but the 4s or the 5."

Joan turned to Brooke, "I would like to get you the newest one, but why don't you play around with both of them and see what you decide."

Brooke played around with both of them for a few minutes and said, "I would like the 5."

"How much storage would you like? 16, 36, or 64?" I know, so many choices."

They all laughed, Joan asked Brooke, "36 or 64?"

"I don't know, how about the 36."

"Its up to you, Brooke, you can get the 64."

"They 36 is plenty of space." Brooke responded.

"Okay, we will get the 36 GB iPhone 5." Joan said to the salesman.

"One more decision. White or black?" he said.

"White." Brooke said.

Joan smiled. The salesman came out with the MacBook Pro and the iPhone. He helped her set up both, setting up the new iPhone account on her new MacBook.

Joan also bought her the Microsoft Office Package for the Mac and if you bought that, it came with a free printer and an iTunes gift card so that Brooke could buy some apps and music. She also got a case for the iPhone and a carrying bag for the Macbook.

They checked out and they set up the iPhone on Joan and Arthur's Verizon account

They finally were finished and decided to go home.

When they got into the car, Brooke was playing around with her new iPhone with her MacBook in the backseat.

Joan had just started the car. Brooke put down the phone and turned to Joan.

"Thank you so much for everything." She said as she hugged Joan tightly.

**AN: **Hey guys, I hope that you liked it. I also hope that it was believable. I tried to make it seem that way, but there were certain things that I wanted to happen and needs to happen now, to make future chapters make sense. Please review and tell me how this chapter was and what you would like to see in the future.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, so I am making it up to you with a little bit of a longer chapter, not much longer, but a little. I hope that you like it, but I really only know if you review and tell me! ;) I also had a question for all of you. Do you guys know of any sites that are free and similar to , but that you can post all kinds of stories, not just fanfictions because I have some ideas for stories that I want to write that do not include the characters on any TV show. Would you guys read some of my stories if they were on a different site as well? If you know of any sites or anything please include them in a review or a PM. Thanks guys and as always, please review and tell me what you would like to see, if you liked it, and anything else.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Covert Affairs

The next morning, Brooke woke up feeling refreshed. She looked over at her iPhone, charging on her night table next to her. 10:47 am.

She got up and put on a sports bra and walked out of her room. She walked down the grand staircase, which Brooke loved because it was a double staircase that was curved. She had seen it in a couple movies and had always wanted one in her house. She had always thought that she would have it when she was an adult, but she was happy that she didn't have to wait that long.

She walked into the kitchen to find Arthur sitting at the kitchen counter, with the newspaper opened wide covering his face.

He heard her walk in and he moved the newspaper, "Good morning, sweetheart," he said.

"Good morning," Brooke answered, "What do you have for breakfast?"

"Well, you really don't want me to cook for you, so I thought that we could go out for breakfast. How does that sound?"

"Great, thank you, I'll go get dressed."

Brooke ran back upstairs. She looked on her new MacBook to see what the weather was like, 68° and sunny. She decided to wear a cute Hollister shirt with some black jeans and tall black boots that had a heal. She brushed her teeth and wet her hair to reactivate the products that she had put in her hair last night when she got out of the shower.

She grabbed her iPhone and walked downstairs.

"You ready to go?" Arthur asked.

"Yup," Brooke said as she grabbed her jacket out of the hall closet. They walked outside and got into Arthur's car and drove off.

"Where are we going?" Brooke asked.

"It's a surprise," Arthur said.

Brooke sat silently for a few minutes before she clicked on the radio. She turned the station to XM channel 2, the hits.

They pulled into a parking lot. Brooke looked out. Arthur took the keys out of the car and they both got out.

Brooke looked a little confused. It looked like it was just a normal restaurant, like a diner.

Arthur saw her confused face and said, "The food here is really good, and there is a story that goes with it."

Brooke smiled and walked in with Arthur.

"Ahh, Mr. Campbell, we haven't seen you in ages. How's the girlfriend?" He whispered the last part, like he knew that Arthur was cheating. Brooke smiled.

"Nice to see you too, Mr. Anthony. She's good." Arthur said holding up his hand, showing his wedding band.

"Ahh, I knew that you two were meant for each other." Arthur explained. "Just the two of you?"

"Yup," Arthur said.

"This must be your daughter." Mr. Anthony said.

Arthur looked at Brooke and smiled. Brooke walked over to Arthur and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and put his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the table.

They sat down and Mr. Anthony gave them the menus. When he walked away, Brooke said, "Now I am really curious about that story." As she opened the menu.

"Why don't you decide what you want and then I will tel you the story."

"Okay." Brooke said with a smirk as she flipped the page.

"How are the chocolate chip pancakes?" Brooke asked.

"They are amazing. Joan used to always order them, but only after we were dating for awhile. She didn't want me to think that she ate 'fat' or something. I don't know, women are crazy," he said as he laughed.

"Hey!" Brooke said laughing.

The waitress came over and said, "Hello, Mr. Campbell, would you like some coffee?"

"Yes please. What would you like, honey?" Arthur asked Brooke.

"Umm, I'll just have some water please."

"I'll get that and be right back."

She brought over the coffee pot and poured Arthur a mug. She sat down the water with a straw in front of Brooke.

"Do you guys know what you want yet?"

"I think so." Arthur said looking at Brooke she nodded. Arthur motioned his hand telling Brooke to order first.

"I'll have the chocolate chip pancakes please."

"Of course, and you Mr. Campbell?"

"Uh, I'll have an omelet with bacon, ham, green peppers, and mushrooms. Oh and please make the potatoes well done."

"Will do. I'll put that right in for you."

The waitress walked away. "Will you tell me the story now?" Brooke asked eager to know.

"Okay." Arthur said, unsure of how to start, "Joan and I used to come here when we were first dating."

"Okay, but why would you come all the way out here?"

"Good question," he paused unsure of how to answer, "I, uh, I was cheating on my wife." Brooke didn't really react. This surprised Arthur, but he continued, "We used to come here so that we didn't run into anybody that we knew."

Brooke looked at Arthur and said, "That's cute for you too, but what about your wife? How did you too meet?"

"Uh, she had just transferred into my unit and was walking in on her first day. She was told to report to my office as I like to meet all of my new operatives." Arthur said ignoring Brooke's question about his now ex-wife.

"Okay, so what happened next?" Brooke asked.

"She knocked on my office door. I told her to come in and she did. I was looking down at a binder, reading some notes from a case that was just completed. When I looked up, her beauty stunned me. She was wearing a black skirt and a blouse, nothing special and her hair was pulled up with her bangs hanging out. She was dressed for work and I didn't know why I was so attracted to her. She said hello and shook my hand. I then snapped out of my little stare down. I was so shocked, I still am. The people at the farm had told me that she was amazing at what she does, but I didn't know how beautiful she would be."

"Awwwwww. That's soo cute! So was it love at first sight?" Brooke asked.

"It was for me. I don't know if she felt the same way at first." Arthur answered.

The food came. They started eating and Brooke asked again, "So what happened to your first wife?" she paused, "She was your first wife, correct?"

Arthur laughed, "Yes. She was my first wife. Her name is Gina. I told her once Joan and I got serious. She was mad, expectedly, but we weren't happy before. So, it wasn't like I was ruining a happy marriage to be with Joann, which I still would have done. Gina and I weren't in love anymore and we were heading into a divorce." Arthur explained.

"Okay," Brooke said. Arthur was surprised, he seemed happy with his answer, so he dropped it.

His phone rang. "Hello." He answered.

"Joan, calm down, talk slower," he paused, listening to her, "Okay, I'll be right there. Brooke is coming with me." He hung up. They had just finished eating and had paid.

"Is everything okay?" Brooke asked.

"It will be, I'll explain in the car, come on, let's go."

Brooke got up and walked quickly to the car, waving to Mr. Anthony as she left.

When they got into the car, Arthur said, "Joan was covering for me today and something has come up that she needs my help with. So, I have to go into Langley. You are going to come with me, is that okay?"

"Of course," Brooke responded. Arthur smiled. He knew that Joan secretly always wanted a child. She never actually said this because she needed to be emotionless, strong, and even cold sometimes at work in order to compete with a mainly male workplace. Arthur was glad that they now had Brooke, who would soon be their child. He loved Brooke and he knew Joan did too. He was happy that she would soon be theirs.

They pulled up to the gate at Langley. The guard knew Arthur and his car, but stopped him because of Brooke.

"Hello Carter." Arthur said rolling to a stop.

"Hi Mr. Campbell. I see you have a guest today."

"Yes, this is Brooke. She will be coming in with me today."

"Alright Mr. Campbell." Carter said pressing the button to open the gate. "Have a nice day."

"Thank you, you too." Arthur said, slowly driving through.

The parked in a spot that said, "Reserved."

Brooke looked confused. "Why doesn't it say DCS on your parking spot like in movies?"

"It says reserved so that nobody else will park here, but they don't want you to know exactly where the DCS's parking spot is, or anybody else in particular for that matter, just in case you slip something in here. This way it is less of a risk of a direct threat, at least on their car."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense." Brooke said, following Arthur in. They stopped by a desk and Arthur said, "Hello George."

"Hello, Mr. Campbell." He said to Arthur. "Hello Miss." He said to Brooke. "I assume that you need a visitor's pass for this young lady here."

Arthur nodded and said thank you as George handed Brooke the pass. She clipped it onto her shirt and followed Arthur.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked Joan as he walked into the DPD. Brooke walked closely behind Arthur who was walking towards Joan.

"Hello Arthur. Hi Brooke." She smiled as she gave Brooke a hug. She could feel the stares coming from the people around them watching the cold, ice queen hug a child. Joan sounded calm, in control, not like she did on the phone when she was clearly alone and nobody else could hear the tone in her voice.

"Meet me in the conference room. I'm going to walk Brooke to my office and I will meet you in there." Joan said to Arthur.

"Okay." Arthur said, heading to the conference room.

"Let's go to my office," Joan said to Brooke.

They both walked into Joan's office. "You can sit on the couch and watch some TV." Joan said handing Brooke the remote and pointing to the TV on the wall. Joan mainly only used it to video chat with the governments of foreign countries, but it was hooked up to cable. "It will only be a few minutes."

"Okay." Brooke said. Joan smiled at her as she walked out of her office, shutting the door.

Brooke watched TV for a few minutes and then got bored. There was nothing good on in the middle of the day on a Tuesday.

She walked over to Joan's computer. Locked. Brooke started typing away.

Joan had just finished filling Arthur in on the events of the day, the big crisis. She was walking back to her office. She opened her door to find Brooke sitting at her computer. "What are you doing?" Joan asked Brooke. Joan began to get really nervous. What if Brooke was working for the Chinese Government and was getting Intel off of her computer. She knew that it was a little too easy for them to escape.

"Oh, I got bored, so I decided to go on your computer." She paused, "I hope that's okay." She looked at Joan. Joan could see the truth in her eyes. Joan had that special talent, she could always tell when people were lying and when they were telling the truth and she knew that Brooke was telling the truth.

Joan looked at her computer screen. Brooke was playing the game "Run." "How did you get onto my computer? I locked it."

"Oh," Brooke paused, "I may have used the backdoor to get in." Brooke said in her best 'innocent' voice.

Joan wasn't even mad. She didn't know why. If anybody else had done that, she would have gone ballistic, but she just couldn't be mad at Brooke.

Joan smiled at her, "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"Its one of the only useful things that Steven taught me." She said, referring to her biological father by the first name.

Joan smiled, "Well, in that case, you are going to get along very well with somebody. Come on."

Brooke followed her out of her office, down to where Auggie's office is.

"Joan-. And a newbie?" Auggie said.

"Auggie, I would like you to meet Brooke." Joan said.

Brooke looked at Joan in confusion. She felt as though Auggie was looking through her not at her. Joan lifted her hand and pointed to her own eyes. She mouthed the words, "He's blind," to her.

Brooke nodded and Auggie said, "Yes that is correct."

"What?" Brooke said.

"Joan is right, I am blind." Auggie responded.

"Whoa! How did you know what she said?" Brooke asked.

"Well, I could tell by the long silent pause, but what really gave it away is that I could hear her saying it. She thinks that she mouthed it, but it is only natural to actually say it softly to be sure that your letters come out clear."

"Oh, cool. But how did you know that it was Joan and I when we walked in?"

"When I became blind, I developed a keen sense of hearing. I could tell by the sound that her shoes make and by her necklace. I knew that I had never heard your foot pattern before, so I assumed it was a new recruit."

"That's awesome." Brooke responded.

"What's even more impressive is that Brooke just hacked into my computer while I was out of my office for 10 minutes." Joan cut in.

"That's incredible." Auggie turned to his computer and typed a little. He then moved his finger over the brail before saying, "And you did it without hitting any security marks. That's impressive."

Brooke smiled, "Thank you."

"Where did you learn to do that?" Auggie asked.

"Her father was Steven Langston." Joan said.

"Like the Steven Langston? The mastermind of hacking and computer software for the CIA? That guy's a legend."

Brooke nodded, "Yea, before he betrayed his country."

Joan turned to Brooke and said, "Its okay. You are with Arthur and I, you have nothing to do with them anymore." She pulled Brooke into a tight hug.

"I have to go back to work, but I'm sure that Auggie would like some company in here." Joan said.

"From a Langston, especially one that clearly loves her country, of course, any time." Auggie replied.

Brooke smiled. "Do you want to stay here?" Joan asked.

"Yea, sure." Brooke responded.

Joan walked out. "So what else has Steven taught you?" Auggie asked.

"Umm, how to hack into any computer regardless of how encrypted it is, how to trace phones, hack into computer software and hard drives locally and remotely. Uhh, and some other stuff too."

"Sounds cool. Do you want to help me?" Auggie asked.

"Sure, what do you need?"

"I have been trying to access the hard drive of this potential threat all day. It has ten levels of encryption with twenty steps on each. I have just made it past the first step on the first level and it has taken me all day. Do you want to take a crack on it?"

"Uh yea!" Brooke said excitedly.

"Hold up. You have to be extremely careful. You cannot leave any traces." Auggie warned.

"I know." Brooke said smiling.

Auggie got up and wheeled over another chair. He let Brooke sit down in his chair and she started to type.

Auggie and Brooke said little for about forty-five minutes. "And I'm in." Brooke said.

"Are you kidding me?" Auggie said. He ran his finger along the brail. Sure enough she had hacked and traced his phone, allowing them to see every detail and it was untraceable. "You are a genius!" Auggie said as Annie walked in.

The smile slid right off of Brooke's face. "Annie, this girl is a genius! She just hacked a huge encryption in forty-five minutes. It took me all day to get through even a little part!"

"That's amazing. Good job Brooke." Annie said.

"Thanks." Brooke said softly.

"Brooke, can I talk to you for a minute?" Annie asked.

"Sure." Brooke said, following Annie out of Auggie's office. She didn't know why she was holding such a grudge on Annie. She usually forgave people really quickly, well, except her parents. She then figured it out, she was quick to forgive and forget most things, but not things that caused all of her trust to vanish completely. What her parents and what Annie did, they were both two huge things that Brooke could never really forget.

Joan saw the two of them walking, "Hey, where are you two going?"

"To talk," Annie said.

Joan looked at her funny, "Brooke can I talk to you for a minute first please?"

"Of course." Brooke said relieved.

Brooke walked into Joan's office. "What is up?" Joan asked.

"Annie wants to talk to me about why I haven't forgiven her. She just did something that I don't think I will ever be able to forgive. She left me in China, knowing what they would do to me." Brooke said, tears forming in her eyes.

Joan sat her down on the couch and Joan sat down next to her. "Sweetie, there is something about all of this that I have to tell you." Joan said. Brooke nodded so Joan told her the whole story, everything, Simon, Lena, Russia, the jail, everything.

"So, Annie was like me? Her boss, like my parents betraying her, putting her in danger."

"Kind of." Joan said, "Only Lena wanted Annie dead. Annie was too good of an operative and would have eventually blown Lena's cover. Your parents love you. An interrogator told me that they have been asking nonstop for you and about you and where you are and if you are safe since they were brought back here. Annie even told me that they begged her to wait to find you before they left China. They said that they would tell Annie everything if they waited, but Lena told Annie to come home, that it was too big of a risk to stay in China any longer. Annie listened to her boss, she had to."

Brooke nodded and now the tears were flowing free from her eyes. Joan squeezed her tightly and rocked back and forth. "It's okay, you are with Arthur and I now and I promise that everything will be okay."

"I still don't forgive them, and I feel bad for not forgiving Annie. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just tell her that you forgive her and I will tell her that I told you the story. And you don't have to forgive your parents. It doesn't matter; they will never be with them again. They will be in federal prison without parole for the rest of their lives. They already even had their trial."

Hearing Joan say her parents made her cringe. She wanted Joan and Arthur to be her parents. Brooke started to cry. "Why are you crying?" Joan asked, "There is nothing to cry about. I am here. Why are you crying?"

Brooke didn't know what to say, "I'm embarrassed to say."

"Sweetie, there is no reason to be embarrassed at all. You can tell me or ask me anything."

"W-when are you and Arthur going to be my parents?"

Joan smiled, "I was going to talk to Arthur and you about this at the same time tonight, but I will tell you now. I talked to the adoption people and Child Services today and they both said that Arthur and I have passed the background checks, which we knew we would because it's all covered up by CIA profiling, actually, only mine is because the DCS is a public figure. Anyway, so we passed the background checks and now we have to have a meeting in court, followed by three unexpected visits to the house. At that last visit, we will set up another court date, this time to sign all of the forms. Then you will be legally ours. I know that that sounds like a long process, but it will only take about three months."

Brooke looked upset, "I know that three months sounds long too, but we don't need a piece of paper telling us that we are your parents, okay." Joan explained.

"So, I can call you mom and dad now?" Brooke asked.

Joan smiled, "If you want. You can call us whatever you want."

"I like mom and dad. It makes it real." Brooke smiled. Joan smiled.

They stood up. "I love you mom." Brooke said.

Joan got the chills and for the first time, could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes.

"I love you too, baby." Joan said, hugging Brooke tightly.

"I'm going to talk to Annie and go up to dad. Is that okay?" Brooke asked.

"Whatever you want." Joan smiled. She hadn't been this happy in a long time. She loved Brooke and was so happy that Brooke thought of her as a real mom and not just like a temporary home, or even a permanent one.

Brooke saw Annie and went up to her, "I'm sorry. I should have forgiven you before." She said, giving Annie a hug.

Annie hugged back and said, "It's okay." Brooke smiled and walked to the elevator and got in. Annie was confused. She went to Joan who was walking back from Auggie's office and asked, "What changed her mind? What did you tell her?"

"The truth." Joan said before walking back into her office and shutting the door.

Brooke knew what floor Arthur's office was on, but he didn't know the number, so she got off on the floor and walked around before seeing a desk that clearly was a secretary's desk outside of a room labeled "Director of Clandestine Services." That was Arthur.

"Are you Brooke?" the secretary asked.

"Yes, you must be Midge." Brooke responded.

"Yes I am."

"Thank you so much for picking out all of the clothes and movies and stuff, I love them."

"I'm glad that you did."

"Is he busy?" Brooke asked.

"He is not in a meeting, but I am sure that he is busy. Go ahead, knock on the door, from the way that he talks about you, he surly won't mind if you come in."

Brooke smiled and knocked on the door. "Come in." she heard Arthur say.

Brooke walked in and shut the door.

"Brooke, how has your day been?"

"Nice, I met Auggie and I helped him do some stuff."

"I heard that you hacked into Joan's computer." Arthur said. He wasn't mad, more of impressed, "and Auggie called me. You didn't just help him do some stuff, you saved him a week's worth of hacking and apparently you did amazing, getting through many levels of hard core encryptions, that's amazing!"

"Thanks dad." Brooke said giving Arthur a hug. She was afraid to let go because she didn't know how Arthur would react.

When she finally did, he was smiling, "I was waiting for you to call me dad. Have you called Joan mom yet?"

"I just did right before I came upstairs."

Arthur smiled, "I am proud to call you my daughter Brooke on so many levels."

"Thanks dad." Brooke said.

**AN: **I really hope that you guys liked this one. It was way more than a little more than usual, it is almost double what I usually write in a chapter. I just couldn't find a good place to stop, so I just kept writing until I got here. I was thinking about cutting it in half and posting the other half sometime this week, but I think that I owe it to you and I also didn't know where to cut it off, so I just left it whole. On a different note, I know that an adoption takes a long time to finalize, but I wanted to jump start their father-daughter and mother-daughter relationships and this was the only way I knew how to without it seeming really unrealistic. Again, I really hope that you liked it and please review and tell me what you liked, maybe what you didn't like, and some ideas for where to go with this now.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, I don't know how much longer this story will go. What do you want to see in this story before it ends? Also, I have kind of stopped writing my other story Remorse of the Past, at least for the time being, I just don't have that much inspiration for that story right now. If you have any ideas for future story ideas for after this story is done, please PM me. I'd love to hear your ideas! Well, I hope that you guys like this chapter and as always, please review!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Covert Affairs

"Why don't we go home, sweetie. I just finished everything that I had to do." Arthur said.

"Okay daddy." Brooke said smiling at him.

Arthur laughed, "How did I get stuck with such a rotten kid?" Arthur said sarcastically.

"You're not stuck with me yet." Brooke said.

"Oh, yes I am." Arthur said, putting his arm around Brooke.

"Let's go say goodbye to your mother." Arthur said. Brooke smiled, she now really felt part of this family.

"Okay." Brooke said walking out with Arthur, waving goodbye to Midge as they walked out.

They got to the DPD and walked to Joan's office. Her door was shut, so Brooke knocked.

"Come in." Joan called, "Hey guys." Joan said once she saw them, "What's up?"

"I just finished taking care of the issue, Brooke and I are going to go. Sound okay with you?" Arthur asked.

"Yea, sounds good. I'll be home by 6:00 to make dinner."

"Okay, sounds good honey." Arthur said, kissing the top of Joan's head.

"Bye Brooke." Joan said pulling her into a hug.

"Bye mom." Brooke responded. Joan squeezed her tighter when she said mom.

Joan finally released Brooke. "I love you, sweetie. I'll see you later."

Brooke smiled, "I love you too," Brooke said as her and Arthur walked out of her office. They went back downstairs to return Brooke's guest badge before they got into the car.

Arthur pulled out of his parking spot and waved to the man at the guardhouse before he pulled onto the road. "Where do you want to go now?" Arthur asked Brooke. She looked at the clock. 3:00

"Uh, I kind of want to make dinner to surprise Jo- I mean mom." Brooke said catching herself.

"Okay, I think that she would like that. Let's go to the food store." Arthur said, ignoring her slip-up.

"Okay," Brooke said happily, "I love to cook."

"Good because I am a terrible chef." Arthur said.

"Well, I'll put you to work doing something." Brooke said.

Arthur laughed as they pulled up to the food store.

Brooke walked down the aisle with Arthur rolling behind her with the cart.

They continued to walk through the store. Brooke would just grab something off the shelf and drop it in the cart.

When they had gone through every aisle, they went to the register. The woman was checking them out as Brooke was putting more groceries on the belt.

The cashier told Arthur the total and he handed her a credit card. When she was finished, Arthur took the bags and they walked out to the car.

"I can take some," Brooke said.

"It's okay, I've got it." Arthur replied.

Brooke smiled. Arthur put the groceries into his trunk and then he got in.

"I have not been in the food store since I was in college. Joan always goes." Arthur said.

Brooke laughed.

They pulled up to the house and they both got out. Brooke took a bag and Arthur took the rest. Brooke walked up to the house and waited for Arthur to come unlock the front door.

He walked up, unlocked it, and turned off the garage.

Brooke walked into the gorgeous kitchen and put down the bag on the counter. Arthur sat the other bags on the counter. Brooke started to cook. She was walking around the kitchen like she had lived there her whole life. Arthur walked into the kitchen and said, "Sweetie, can I run some errands, are you okay here by yourself?"

"Yea, sure." Brooke said looking up.

"Okay, sweetie, I'll be back later." Arthur said as he kissed her head, "We have to come up with a nickname for you." Arthur smiled.

"I'll think about it." Brooke said smiling.

Arthur left. Brooke continued to prepare dinner. She found a beautiful tablecloth and nice candles. She set the table with gorgeous china.

She heard Arthur's car pull into the driveway. He walked through the door and into the kitchen. "This smells amazing Brooke!"

"Thanks dad." Brooke said.

"Mom is going to be so surprised." Arthur said. They then heard Joan open the garage. "Let's get the food on the table quickly!" Arthur exclaimed.

Joan walked through the door. Arthur and Brooke had turned off the lights and hid.

"Arthur! Brooke! What do you guys want for dinner?! Something easy please, I'm tired." Joan called upstairs.

"It smells so good in here." Joan said out loud to herself as she hung up her coat, "Arthur what did you guys make in here? It smells really good." Joan called up.

Arthur then turned on the lights. The spy in Joan made her flip around suddenly. "Surprise." Brooke and Arthur said in unison.

"You two scared me!" Joan said as she ran over to Arthur and Brooke, throwing herself in Arthur's arms. It was then that Joan noticed the table. She gasped! "Arthur, where did you order this food from?"

Brooke laughed. "Actually, I didn't order it." Arthur said.

"Umm, and we are going to eat it because?" Joan said.

"Hey! I'm not that bad of a chef." Arthur paused, "Actually, maybe I am. Well, you don't have to worry about it because Brooke made all of it."

"Really?!" Joan said in awe.

"Yea," Brooke said, "I wanted to make something special for you two because," she paused, "well because I love and appreciate everything that you two do."

"Brooke." Joan said, "This all looks amazing! Let's sit down."

They all sat down. "Why don't you tell us what everything is?" Joan asked Brooke. Joan looked at the table.

"Okay, well that is the honey roasted pomegranate chicken, there are spiced green beans, that is garlic and sage mash potatoes, here is sweet potato casserole, and that's sautéed vegetables." Brooke said.

"It all looks amazing!" Arthur said.

"I agree." Joan replied.

They all dug in.

"So, Brooke, I was thinking about taking tomorrow off so that we could spend a real day together. Does that sound okay?" Arthur said.

"That sounds perfect!" Brooke said, taking a bite of the chicken.

They continued to talk for a few minutes until Joan jumped in, "Brooke, guess what the best part of cooking is?"

"What?" Brooke said.

"Arthur has to clean up everything." Joan said.

They all laughed. After a couple of seconds Brooke said, "Wait, you weren't kidding?"

Arthur and Joan laughed again, "No, I wasn't kidding." Joan said, "It was our agreement, I cook, so we don't get food poisoning, and Arthur cleans."

"Haven't you two bashed my cooking enough today?" Arthur said.

Brooke and Joan laughed.

They were having a lot of fun talking and eating. When they were done eating, they continued to sit there and talk.

"So Brooke, I was thinking that we would go school supplies shopping this weekend. Okay?" Joan said.

"Sure, sounds good." Brooke replied.

They continued to talk for another fifteen or so minutes and then Joan said, "Brooke, do you want to watch some TV with me while your father cleans up?"

"Oh, I was going to help him," Brooke said, "but, I'd love to watch TV with you afterwards."

"Okay." Joan said a little confused, "You really want to help him with the dishes?"

"Not really, but I don't want dad to have to do them all by himself, so I'll help him." Brooke said.

"Maybe you can learn something from our daughter, who is amazingly smart. Did Auggie tell you about how she hacked the encryption today?" Arthur asked Joan.

"Yes, he was telling me about the whole thing." Joan said, "That's very impressive Brooke."

"Thanks," Brooke responded.

They all got up and walked the dishes into the kitchen. Arthur and Brooke did all of the dishes while Joan took a shower. When they were done, Brooke jumped into the shower.

Brooke got into a pair of pajamas and walked downstairs. She watched an episode of _NCIS _and then they all went upstairs.

Joan and Arthur walked Brooke into her room. They waited for her to get into bed before they turned off the light. "Goodnight baby." Joan said, kissing Brooke's head.

"Goodnight munchkin." Arthur said, leaning down, "Do you like that? Because if you don't, I won't call you that."

"It's perfect." Brooke said, "Goodnight daddy. I love you both."

"I love you too." They both said.

"Thank you so much for dinner Brooke, it was delicious." Joan said as she shut the door.

The next morning, Brooke woke up and walked downstairs. Arthur was not down yet. Brooke made herself eggs and toast and was eating them at the counter when Arthur came down.

"Good morning munchkin." Arthur said.

"Good morning." Brooke replied smiling. "Do you want me to make you some breakfast?"

"No, I'm okay, thank you though, I'm just going to have some cereal."

Brooke nodded.

"I want to know more about you, like what are your favorite things?" Arthur asked.

"Well, I love shopping, my favorite color is green, but not like a dark green, more of a minty green, I love basketball, -"

"You like basketball?" Arthur asked.

"Yea, I love basketball. Why? Is it hard to believe?" Brooke asked smiling.

"No, but we have a net here that the people left behind as well. It is in storage downstairs, we can take it outside though if you want and shoot some hoops." Arthur suggested.

"Okay." Brooke said excitedly.

They finished eating and then Brooke went upstairs to change and Arthur went downstairs to get the hoop.

When she walked outside, Arthur was already shooting around. He made every shot. "Wow, you're good." Brooke said.

Arthur smiled, "I played in high school."

"Oh." Brooke said as Arthur threw her the ball. She shot it and made a swish.

"Is there anything that you are not good at?" Arthur asked her.

"Uhh, volleyball?" Brooke said.

Arthur laughed. "Let's play some one-on-one."

Brooke nodded, "Okay. No make-it-take-it, we alternate and I start. We have to check the ball too. Okay?"

"Yup." Arthur said, passing her the ball.

She checked the ball and started dribbling towards the basket. Arthur is a good 6 inches taller than her, so when he put his hands up, she couldn't shoot. She backed into him, inching herself towards the basket. She then did a roll off and went to the other side of the court and did a layup.

Arthur clapped, "Okay, its not over yet missy."

Brooke laughed and passed him the ball. They checked it and Arthur went down the court. Brooke put her arms up, stopping him from taking the shot. He dribbled around her and put up a shot. It missed. Brooke boxed him out, but the rebound went above her head. Arthur caught is and shot it back up. It went in.

They continued with this game for a couple of hours. The score was 146-144. Brooke was winning. It was almost lunchtime.

After a couple of minutes, Arthur got a basket, making the score tied. "Next point wins?" Brooke suggested.

"Sounds good."

It was Brooke's turn on offence. She had an amazing play and made the basket.

"No fair!" Arthur said, lifting Brooke over his shoulder, running around the driveway.

Joan was going to surprise the two of them by coming home for lunch. She pulled up to see the Arthur running around the driveway with Brooke over his shoulder. They were both laughing. Joan smiled, making sure to keep the car far enough away, where they wouldn't notice it. She was using her covert tactics to spy on her family. Her FAMILY. She loved thinking about them and how they really are a family! She finally did pull into the driveway, when Arthur ran onto the grass to put Brooke down.

They were still laughing when Joan got out of the car. "You two seem like you are having fun. Arthur, but I'm sure that Brooke doesn't want to play basketball."

"She loves basketball." Arthur said.

"Oh ok." Joan said.

"Its okay mom, dad is just upset because I just beat him." Brooke said.

"You just beat the high school champion?"

Brooke turned to Arthur, "You told me that you played in high school, but you didn't tell me that you were the champion."

"Oh, I was on the champion team." Arthur said.

"Arthur, tell her the whole truth, he was the star player on the champion team." Joan said. Arthur blushed.

"Come here you two." Arthur said, pulling Joan and Brooke into an embracing hug, "I am so lucky to have two amazing, strong, smart, and loving women in my life." He kissed both of their heads before saying, "Let's go have some lunch." Arthur said, leading them inside.

**AN: **I hope that you guys liked this chapter. Also, I asked this in the AN of my last chapter, but nobody answered it: Do any of you know of some websites that is basically the same thing as fanfiction . com, except that it is for stories that are not fanfictions. Again, please review to give me any input; either ideas or just feedback.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I was going to just write a short little ending and be finished writing this story, but I found myself thinking more and more about this story and decided to continue. I really like where this story is going and I have some ideas for the future if people want to read it ;) this chapter will probably be long and more filler, but it is necessary to continue. As always, please review :)**

"Brooke!" Joan called upstairs.

"Yes?" Brooke called down as she walked out of her room into the hallway.

"Will you come here for a minute please? Arthur and I want to talk to you." Joan said.

"Okay, I'm coming." Brooke said as she walked downstairs.

She walked into the living room to find Arthur sitting in his chair and Joan on the couch. Joan patted the seat next to her. Brooke sat down. She was now in the middle of Joan and Arthur.

They looked serious, which was the opposite from how they had been acting lately. Lately, they had all been happy and energetic, Joan had taken her shopping and they cooked dinner together every night this week. Arthur had played basketball and soccer with her when he got home from work a few times this week.

"Is everything okay?" Brooke said worriedly.

"Everything is fine." Joan started. It was Saturday, Brooke had to start school on Monday and she was nervous already and now she was even more nervous. "We just got notified that the trial for your adoption will be next tomorrow, they just changed it. Everything should go well, we just have to make sure to have everything put together before then."

"How can I help?" Brooke said.

"I have all of the information at work, so I am going to go in early tomorrow morning to get it" Joan finished.

"Okay." Brooke said. She paused, "Can we talk about Monday for a second please?" Brooke asked.

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" Joan said looking at Brooke.

"Umm, how am I getting to school? And how am I getting home?" Brooke asked.

"Well, I thought that I would drop you off on Monday," Arthur said, speaking for the first time.

"And I'm still checking about the way home. Either I am going to have Annie pick you up, or you will ride the bus home." Joan said. "I don't think that I will be able to leave work early. Sorry sweetie."

"It's ok." Brooke said.

"Okay, do you want to help me make dinner?" Joan said.

"I'll be there in a second." Brooke said.

Joan smiled and stood up and walked out of the living room.

Arthur got up to leave too and Brooke stopped him, "Dad, what's up? You are acting really weird and I know that something is wrong."

"I'm just nervous about tomorrow." Arthur admitted.

"Why? I thought that mom said that it wouldn't be a problem?"

"It shouldn't be, but our country's legal system really protects its children and it could be harder than we planned on, especially given my job."

"Oh, because you are the DCS, people know that you work for the CIA?" Brooke asked.

"Yes, and it says in Joan's file that she works for the world bank." Arthur said.

"Okay, so I still don't really see the problem." Brooke said.

"It's ok, there really is nothing to worry about, why don't you go help your mother in the kitchen?"

"Okay." Brooke said as she stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Arthur remained seated in his chair. He was worried that some of the issues regarding Joan's drug addiction would keep them from adopting Brooke. He was also worried that they may say that it is too dangerous to put a child into the house of the DCS because of the media, she could become a target to get to Arthur.

He sighed and got up. He went into his bedroom and shut the door.

Brooke and Joan made dinner as they talked about the events that would happen tomorrow. "We need to be at the courthouse at 9:00 am. We cannot be late, I probably want to be there by 8:30-8:45. That means leaving here by 8 or 8:15." Joan said.

"Okay, I'll get up around 7. Will you straighten my hair in the morning please?" Brooke asked.

"Sure. Please be dressed and completely ready to leave before I do that. I'll come in around 7:30? Okay?" Joan asked.

"Yup." Brooke said with a small smile.

Joan knew that look, "What's wrong sweetie?" she said as she stopped cutting up the bell pepper and walked over to Brooke. She pulled Brooke into a hug and stroked her hair.

"I don't know, I'm just really nervous." Brooke said, laying her head on Joan's shoulder.

"You will have to go up onto the witness stand. Okay? We practiced with the lawyer and you know exactly what to say." Brooke just nodded.

"Let's finish making dinner and after we can watch a movie. We can talk more about this at dinner. Alright?" Joan said.

"Okay." Brooke said.

They finished making dinner and they ate almost silently. When they were finished, Brooke took her plate to the sink and then went upstairs.

"Brooke, I thought that we were going to watch a movie." Joan called after her.

"I'm just really tired, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Brooke said.

Joan looked upset. Arthur wrapped his arms around Joan's waist and kissed her. "She is going to be fine." Arthur said reading her mind. He wanted tomorrow to be over with and he knew that he had to act as though nothing was wrong so that Brooke wasn't nervous.

"I know. She's strong." Joan said.

"She reminds me of you." Arthur said.

Joan smiled, "I would not have survived in her situation at age 14."

"Yes you would have." Arthur said. Joan smiled again. "Come on, let's go to bed." Arthur said, leading Joan towards the stairs.

The next morning, she awoke to her alarm. Brooke looked over at her iPhone and turned off the alarm. She got out of her bed and walked into her closet. She picked out a modest, but pretty dress and a pair of heals. She went downstairs, still in her pajamas and walked into the kitchen. She saw Arthur sitting at the island drinking a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning." Arthur said with a smile as he put down the newspaper.

"Good morning." Brooke said as she opened the refrigerator.

"Mom picked up bagels this morning. They are on the counter." Arthur said as he pointed to the bag.

"Okay." Brooke said, getting the cream cheese out of the fridge. She sliced an everything bagel and stuck it into the toaster. She then poured herself a glass of orange juice. When her bagel was ready, she spread the cream cheese onto the bagel and then sat down next to Arthur.

She started to eat and stare into space. She was startled when she looked over and saw Arthur starring at her. He smiled and put his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"Everything is going to be okay." he said into her ear. "I know that you are nervous and that you came from a family of spies, so you probably know how to hide it really well, but I can always tell, even when Joan is nervous. Okay? And I know that everything will be fine and I also know that there is a surprise waiting for you when we get home." he smirked.

"Maybe I am actually like a spy because I hate surprises." She said as she smiled.

"Join the club." Arthur said, they both laughed, "but this one is good and Joan would kill me if I told you. And trust me, she could do it without leaving any trace evidence." They laughed again.

Joan walked through the door and followed the laughter into the kitchen. When she was in eyesight of the two of them, Arthur said, "there she is now."

"Were you two talking about me?" Joan said with a smile. She was already dressed, but not in a dress like she usually wore to work, but instead she wore dress pants and a beautiful blouse.

"Yes, we were actually. I was telling Brooke that if I show up dead, to come to you first because you can do it without leaving a trace." Arthur said as he laughed.

Brooke laughed too, but Joan didn't look too thrilled, "that's not even funny Arthur." She said as she hit him with the newspaper.

"Not even a little funny?" he asked.

"Well maybe a little, but only because it is true. But I would never hurt you two." Joan said as she laughed. "I'm only kidding." She said to Brooke who looked a little stunned. "Let's go upstairs and get you ready." Joan said as Brooke ate the last of her bagel and drank the last of her orange juice.

Brooke smiled as she got up and walked upstairs with Joan. Brooke got dressed and Joan straightened her long, thick, brown hair.

Once they were finished, they got into the car and drove to the courthouse. They walked in and were greeted by their lawyer. "Hello." Their lawyer said as she walked over to them. "Hi Brooke."

"Hi," Brooke said as she stood in between Arthur and Joan. Arthur put his arm around Brooke to remind her that she wasn't alone.

"Okay, so this adoption is unlike normal ones, so the procedure is a little different as well. Because it is a rushed adoption, they will have an attorney from the state cross examine each of you after I ask you my questions. They do this because they have not yet had a chance to really evaluate you guys. They have done background checks and they assume because you are the DCS," she said looking at Arthur, "that your family will be a safe environment at least on your part, but they have not done everything, for example, home visits. I will warm you, they do have some concern that your job could propose a risk to Brooke, but if you talk about how her parents were and the dangers that they put her in, that part should be fine because you actually saved her from harm. Actually Brooke, I want you to try to talk about it because you witnessed it first hand." the lawyer finished.

"Okay," Brooke said. She was trying her best not to show that she was nervous, but it was hard, because she really was.

Joan smiled at the strong, beautiful, smart young lady that was about to become her daughter. She continued to stare at Brooke until they called their name to come into the court room.

The three of them sat down behind the desk. Joan turned to Brooke, "That is the witness stand." Joan whispered in her ear as she pointed to the chair in the front of the courtroom, next to the judge's. "You will go around there," Joan continued to point out the path that Brooke should walk, "and go up the stairs over there and sit down."

"Because nobody is really being prosecuted, they won't," the lawyer paused, "at least, they hopefully won't completely grill Brooke, but just remember, all three of you, to remain calm and answer the questions as completely and truthfully as possible." the lawyer said.

The lawyer was through the CIA, so Brooke asked, "What if they ask questions about how I was brought back, or other things about the CIA, how do I answer truthfully without giving that away?"

"Because this case involves the DCS, it is a closed court, and not open to the public. The people in here have a vow not to reveal anything or they could be prosecuted for treason, so you can say anything that you want." the lawyer paused, "Even about Joan and Annie."

Joan nodded. Arthur leaned over, "Brooke, remember to look at the lawyer for the question, and then tell the judge the answer. It is an unnatural motion, but just try to remember. You will do great. I know it." Arthur said smiling as he kissed Brooke's head.

The next thing they knew, they heard, "All arise."

They all stood and the judge walked in and sat down. She was told briefly what the case was about and they got right down to it.

"Alright, so I know that this is a little bit different from normal adoption hearings, so lets first start off with just a general statement from," the judge paused, "at least you." the judge pointed to Brooke, Joan, and Arthur, "Just to make it easier, I'm going to call you defense and you prosecution," she said pointing to the attorney from the state. "If you really deem necessary, you may also give an opening, but you really are not trying to prove anything, you are just trying to ask questions that will help us understand why," the judge looked down, "Brooke, is that right?" the judge asked looking at Brooke. Brooke just nodded the judge smiled, "needs to be adopted, we also need to make sure that these people are going to be good parents. Is this the only thing that you are trying to do today?" the judge finished.

"Yes, your honor, no opening for prosecution is necessary." the state attorney said.

The Campbell's attorney gave her opening, highlighting key points that Brooke was put into harms way with her biological parents and how they were now in jail and how Joan and Arthur vowed to protect her. She finally finished and sat down.

The judge said, "Defense, your first witness?" she paused, "I don't like that. What order will the three come up?"

The lawyer said, "First will be Mr. Arthur Campbell, second will be Mrs. Joan Campbell, and the third is Brooke Langston."

"Alright, Mr. Campbell." the judge said.

Arthur got up and walked to the witness stand. He was made to swear against perjury and then he sat down.

The lawyer asked a couple questions about his job and he basically said that he has doesn't feel like he is in danger and that he can protect Brooke. She asked him some questions about his and Brooke's relationship and he talked about how he plays soccer and basketball with her and how they have really gotten close. He looked over at Brooke and she smiled.

Then it was time for the cross. The lawyer asked questions more about his job and asked how it could cause danger. He said, "Any job poses threats; as a teacher, you run the risk of a student bringing a gun, as a lawyer, you risk people coming after you if you get them convicted, I am the DCS, and my job could pose a risk, but I have more ways to keep her safe."

When the cross was over, the judge said, "Mrs. Campbell."

Joan walked up to the stand and swore against perjury before she sat down. Their lawyer asked more questions about their relationship, how their household has been, and how they have been emotionally since Brooke started to live with them. Joan said that they are really close and that they spend a lot of time together. She talked about how Brooke has brought her and Arthur together in some ways and how she makes them see the good in their relationship and emotionally when they got close to losing hope.

The direct was over and now it was time for cross.

"So Mrs. Campbell, you work for the world bank?" the state attorney said.

She looked at Arthur. He nodded, so she turned to the judge and said, "Nothing I say can leave this room, correct?"

The judge replied, "That is correct Mrs. Campbell."

So Joan said, "Actually, I work for the CIA, the world bank is just my cover job."

The judge looked a little surprised and so did the state attorney, so Joan said, "I hope that you realize that I cannot talk about my job, other than to say that I do not do field work anymore, normally." She smiled at Brooke.

They questioned her a little bit more about her relationship before the state attorney said, "So, I have your file here." He said as he turned to pick it up, "Isn't it true that you had a drug addiction?"

Joan paused before saying, "Yes."

The follow up question was, "Do you believe that you could relapse and will affect either your relationship with Brooke, or put Brooke at risk, either physically or emotionally?"

Joan responded, "No, Brooke would never be at risk for any harm, ever. I would never do that her. She has already been through enough."

"Have you ever relapsed?"

"Yes." Joan said.

"How long ago was your last one?"

"A month and a half ago." Joan said reluctantly.

"So let me get this straight, you work for the CIA and you relapsed? And I know that you can't confirm this, but I assume that you are in charge of a division if you are no longer a field agent and your husband is the DCS. How does this relapse effect your job, generically?"

"It has made some of my decisions quicker and not as thought out, but as a person, I have not changed." She said. She was beginning to get upset.

She was questioned a little more before she got down. The judge then said, "Ms. Langston, it's your turn." the judge smiled at her.

Brooke came up and swore and then sat down. Their lawyer asked her, "How has living with the Campbells been?"

Brooke started, "I love them. They are the parents that I have always wanted."

The lawyer smiled and continued, "How are your relationships with Joan and Arthur?"

Brooke started, "Well, my parents and I are really close," she paused, "By my parents, I mean Joan and Arthur. I call them mom and dad, they are my parents. Anyway, we are really close and I love them. My mom and I cook and shop together. She is amazing and would never do anything to hurt me. My dad and I are really close too. The two of us, as he already said, play basketball and soccer together. We also watch tv and movies together. I know that he would always do everything in his power to protect me." Brooke finished. She looked at her parents and they smiled at her. She smiled back.

She continued to be asked questions and Brooke continued to answer. Then it was time for cross.

The state attorney came up to the stand and said, "Hello Brooke, I'm going to ask you a few questions." Brooke just nodded, so he continued, I know that it is difficult to talk about, but will you please describe what happened leading up to going to China?"

Brooke looked at Joan and Arthur that were smiling at her. She began, "well, I don't really know. I came home from school one random, normal day and my biological parents had two bags sitting on the kitchen table. They told me to take the battery out of my cell phone and put it on the counter. They then handed me a bag and told me to go to my room and pack up anything that I wanted that would fit into the bag, but no electronics. They told me that we were never coming back, so I went into my room and put some clothes in and some books and a couple of pictures and we left. We got onto a plane and went to China."

"Did you ask questions about where you were going or what was making you leave?"

"I asked once we were in the car, and I knew that my parents were in the CIA, and they always told me to be prepared to leave right away, in case something happened and we had to flee the country."

"So what happened once you were in China?"

"We went to an apartment and put down our things and then we went out to buy some "essential things" as they put it, food, clothes," Brooke paused, "guns. Everything was bought with cash, cash that was in the apartment already for us in a big black bag."

"I know that you cannot talk about what specifically happened next because of national security, but can you tell us what happened to your biological parents?"

"An agent from the CIA came to get them because they needed to be put into jail. She was having trouble finding them because they were hiding and eventually she must have found them because they just left. Nobody even cared enough to save me." Brooke said. Joan smiled at her amazingly strong daughter, who was honesty telling the story, some details even she hadn't known.

The attorney continued, "And how did you eventually leave and end up in the care of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell?"

Brooke looked at Joan and Arthur again and this time they nodded, so Brooke said, "My mom was one of the agents that came to rescue me, along with the agent that came the first time. I didn't really trust the other agent because she left me, but later I was told that she had no choice, she was ordered to come home with the two targets and then they would formulate a plan to get me."

The attorney looked a little confused, so he said, "Your honor, the state would like to recall Mrs. Campbell to the stand."

"On what grounds council?" the judge asked.

"In her testimony, she clearly stated that she does not go on any more covert missions, and so it will not pose a threat to Brooke however, Brooke just stated that Mrs. Campbell was one of the two operatives that rescued her from China. The state would just like to clarify this in order to account for the safety of the household that Ms. Langston will be living in." the attorney said.

"Objection, your honor, I believe that Mrs. Campbell said in her testimony, and I quote 'I do not do field work anymore, normally.' This would imply that on occasion, Mrs. Campbell does go into the field, but on a normal basis, she is not in the field." their attorney said.

"Sustained," The judge said, she turned to the state attorney and said, "I do believe that the opposing council is correct. Mrs. Campbell's testimony would indeed suggest that she does go into the field once in awhile, but not on a normal basis."

The state attorney nodded and turned to Brooke, "Knowing that your parents were in the CIA, I'm assuming that you know that they probably have many occasions where they rescue people from other countries, why were you invited into the Campbell's household?"

"Well, when my mom rescued me, we were immediately were really close. I didn't want to leave her side. When we got onto the plane, she called my dad and asked if I could stay temporarily because she was the only person that I trusted, even though I had just met her. When my dad said yes, she brought me to her house and my dad and i immediately had a connection. I could just feel it, that they were good people and that I could trust them. And I'm glad that I did."

"Thank you Ms. Langston, no further questions your honor."

Brooke stepped off the podium and went to sit down with Arthur and Joan, who immediately told her that she did great and gave her big hugs.

Their attorney gave a quick closing, reiterating how the Campbells are amazing people who love and care for this girl and value her safety and happiness above all else.

After all was finished, the judge said, "Let me talk with the state attorney and the child advocate from the child protective services and we will be back in a moment."

"All arise." they stood until the judge left the room.

Their attorney said, "I think that we definitely won this case. Mainly because above all else, she is going to two loving parents that can protect her. All families have some shit and they know that. There is no perfect set of parents."

They continued to talk until they heard, "All arise."

When the judge sat down, she said, "We have a verdict."

**AN: I hope that you guys liked it. I know that it is really long and I was going to break it into two, but I didn't like that idea as much because I just kind of wanted to get that all out in one chapter, so we can move on. I am really interested in the court of law, but I have never really seen a custody hearing and I wanted some of those issues that could test the ability of Joan and Arthur to provide a stable and safe household to be brought up and this was the only way that I could think to do this. It will probably be awhile until I can update again because I have soooo much homework. Please review and give me suggestions for the next chapter.**


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